TechFlow News: On May 8, according to The Block, the Arbitrum DAO voted to approve—by 90.96% support (182.2 million votes)—the release of 30,765.6 ETH (approximately $70 million) previously frozen to fund the DeFi United initiative, aimed at compensating for Kelp DAO’s $292 million exploit loss last month. The attack was allegedly carried out by the North Korean Lazarus hacking group, which exploited a vulnerability in LayerZero’s OFT cross-chain bridge—a single-validator configuration—which allowed the attackers to steal 116,500 rsETH and deposit most of the stolen assets as collateral on Aave, resulting in approximately $190 million in bad debt. DeFi United has secured multi-party donations, including 30,000 ETH from Consensys and Joseph Lubin, a 30,000-ETH loan from Mantle, and 5,000 ETH from LayerZero.
However, on May 1, a court order restricted the Arbitrum DAO from deploying the aforementioned funds, directing instead that they be allocated to creditors named in a prior U.S. judgment related to North Korean terrorism. In response, Aave LLC has filed an emergency motion with the federal court, arguing that the ruling rests on unverified speculation and that temporary possession of stolen assets does not equate to ownership.
