Arbitrum Freezes 30,766 ETH, Blocks Bridge to Ethereum

On April 21, the Arbitrum Security Council froze 30,766 ether held on Arbitrum One and moved the funds to the protocol-controlled address 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000DA0 to prevent a native bridge withdrawal to the Ethereum mainnet.

The ether traced back to a broader KelpDAO exploit that drained about $292 million by targeting rsETH via a LayerZero bridge. A portion of the stolen assets had been moved to Arbitrum One after the initial breach.

Security analysts flagged an attempted native bridge transfer that used the 0xDA0 precompile, the standard mechanism for moving native ether between Arbitrum and Ethereum. The Security Council completed the freeze before the withdrawal finalized, leaving the 30,766 ETH on Arbitrum. On-chain monitors confirmed the freeze roughly 20 minutes after it was executed.

At current prices the frozen ether is worth about $70 million. The Arbitrum Security Council has elevated administrative powers that allow technical interventions in declared security emergencies, including the ability to move or freeze assets. Arbitrum governance has not announced whether the frozen funds will be returned to KelpDAO users or handled in another way.

On-chain investigators have pointed to the Lazarus Group as the likely actor behind the KelpDAO exploit. A major staking provider reported approximately $21.6 million of exposure to rsETH through an EarnETH product and said it could deploy a $3 million loss buffer to cover part of the impact.

The KelpDAO breach contributed to more than $600 million in reported losses across decentralized finance over a recent three-week stretch. The 30,766 ETH remains at the Arbitrum-controlled address while governance decides the funds’ final disposition.