LayerZero Commits 10,000 ETH to DeFi United Recovery

• LayerZero pledges 10,000 ETH, splitting funds between DeFi United support and Aave liquidity to stabilize rsETH-backed markets.
• RPC poisoning exploit released unbacked rsETH, enabling attackers to borrow $190M and create major bad debt across DeFi systems.
• DeFi United raises over $300M from industry players, coordinating recovery while scrutiny grows over Kelp DAO’s verifier design.

LayerZero Labs has committed 10,000 ETH to the DeFi United recovery effort following the $292 million Kelp DAO exploit on April 18, 2026. The company disclosed the pledge on Tuesday through an X post. The move aims to restore rsETH backing and stabilize affected lending markets after attackers exploited its verifier network.

LayerZero Outlines Contribution and Recovery Support

According to LayerZero Labs, the firm will donate 5,000 ETH to DeFi United. It will also deposit another 5,000 ETH directly into Aave to strengthen liquidity. Additionally, the company plans to deepen liquidity for GHO, Aave’s native stablecoin.

LayerZero stated it will continue working with Aave and other DeFi participants on integration standards. The focus includes structuring omnichain fungible tokens within lending markets. The total contribution equals about $23 million based on prevailing ETH prices at the time.

Attack Mechanics Triggered System-Wide Disruption

The pledge follows a coordinated recovery push after the exploit disrupted multiple DeFi systems. On April 18, attackers used an RPC poisoning method to forge a cross-chain message. This allowed the release of unbacked rsETH from Kelp DAO’s bridge on Ethereum.

As a result, roughly 107,000 rsETH entered lending positions across Aave. The attacker later deposited around 90,000 rsETH and borrowed nearly $190 million in assets. This sequence created significant bad debt across the protocol and strained liquidity pools.

Industry Response Builds Large Recovery Pool

DeFi United formed to coordinate recovery actions across protocols and contributors. The initiative has raised over $300 million in ETH and stablecoins from multiple participants. Aave is leading coordination and released a technical recovery plan.

Other contributors include Consensys and Joseph Lubin, each pledging 30,000 ETH. Mantle matched that amount through a low-interest loan. Meanwhile, Stani Kulechov pledged 5,000 ETH, while KelpDAO added 2,000 ETH.

However, scrutiny remains around system design decisions tied to the exploit. Kelp DAO used a single verifier setup, while LayerZero said it had recommended multi-verifier redundancy.

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