ZachXBT: Law firm seeks $71M in Lazarus-linked ether

Onchain investigator ZachXBT accused U.S. law firm Gerstein Harrow LLP of filing court claims to seize 30,766 ETH, roughly $71 million, that were frozen after the April 18, 2026 KelpDAO exploit. The complaint from the firm rests on a 2015 U.S. court judgment against North Korea in the Han Kim et al. case.

The KelpDAO breach, attributed by blockchain investigators to North Korea–linked Lazarus Group, exploited a vulnerability in a LayerZero V2 bridge and removed about $290 million on April 18. Onchain tracing linked some stolen funds to addresses on Arbitrum, and the Arbitrum Security Council executed an emergency freeze on the 30,766 ETH to limit further movement.

Gerstein Harrow, a boutique litigation firm, filed to redirect the frozen ether to satisfy the 2015 judgment from Han Kim et al., a case that arose from the abduction of a South Korean reverend in 2000. The firm argues the frozen assets are subject to that earlier ruling and should be applied to its clients’ claims.

ZachXBT’s blockchain research helped trace the flow of funds and contributed to the decision to freeze the ether. On X, ZachXBT called the firm’s tactic “pure evil” and criticized the use of his tracking work without permission. He urged the crypto community to organize a coordinated legal response and proposed forming a decentralized autonomous organization to pursue that effort; the idea received support from parts of the community.

The competing filings create a legal dispute over priority for the frozen assets. If a court accepts Gerstein Harrow’s claim, its clients could be placed ahead of KelpDAO and other 2026 victims in any distribution of recovered funds. Court filings and responses to the petition are active and the final outcome remains undecided.

Lazarus Group has been linked by analysts and officials to more than $6 billion in crypto thefts since 2017. Recorded losses so far in 2026 show a large share tied to operations attributed to the group, including an earlier April theft of about $285 million from Drift Protocol.

Legal experts and market participants say the case may influence how courts treat frozen cryptocurrency when multiple parties assert claims against the same assets. The dispute has left the immediate fate of the 30,766 ETH unresolved while litigation proceeds.