Published Sun, Apr 19, 2026 · 05:37 PM

HACKERS exploited a cross-chain bridge on Saturday (Apr 18), draining nearly US$300 million from a key piece of decentralised finance infrastructure and setting off a ripple effect across multiple crypto platforms.

The attacker siphoned about 116,500 rsETH – a token issued by Kelp DAO that represents “restaked” Ether – by targeting a bridge built using LayerZero, a system that allows different blockchains to communicate. The total losses are estimated at roughly US$293 million, making it the largest DeFi exploit of 2026.

“We identified suspicious cross-chain activity involving rsETH,” Kelp DAO said in a post on X.

Kelp DAO is a restaking protocol that lets users deposit popular staking…