#CryptoMarketMoves
🚨 Biggest hack of 2026: KelpDAO loses nearly $300 million
The cryptocurrency market has been rocked by a major event — liquid restacking protocol KelpDAO has fallen victim to a hack. This is officially the largest security incident of the year in terms of the amount of stolen funds.
🔍 What happened?
The attacker exploited a vulnerability in the protocol’s bridge contract.
• Amount of losses: ~$293.7 million in rsETH tokens.
• Mechanics: The hacker created unsecured rsETH and used them as collateral in lending protocols (Aave V3, Compound V3, Euler) to borrow real assets (WETH).
• Domino effect: Due to the deep integration of rsETH into the DeFi ecosystem, the problem instantly spread to 9 different protocols, creating the threat of “bad debts”.
🛡 Market and Team Reaction
• KelpDAO: rsETH contracts suspended on mainnet and L2 networks. The team is working with LayerZero, Unichain, and auditors.
• Safeguards: Aave V3 and SparkLend have already frozen rsETH markets. Other platforms such as Fluid and Compound are taking steps to limit risks.
📊 Market context as of April 19, 2026:
• $BTC : -2.06% (market volatility on news).
• $REQ : +65.60% (abnormal growth).
• DeXe: Token of the day.
This breach surpassed the previous anti-record of 2026 — the Drift Protocol exploit for $280 million. The situation once again highlights the risks of complex cross-chain architectures in DeFi.
