Key Highlights
- Kelp DAO confirmed rsETH withdrawals are now live, with bridging and EigenLayer claims also active as part of the coordinated restart plan
- Aave announced rsETH has been unpaused across Ethereum Core, Arbitrum, Base, Linea, and Mantle, enabling users to withdraw
- Exchange rates will be updated around 4:30 PM CET on May 15, reflecting staking rewards accrued during the pause, with deposits expected to reopen after a brief stabilization window
Kelp DAO has reopened rsETH withdrawals nearly four weeks after the $292 million bridge exploit forced the liquid restaking protocol to freeze all operations. Aave confirmed that rsETH markets have been unpaused across five networks: Ethereum Core, Arbitrum, Base, Linea, and Mantle, enabling users to withdraw their rsETH holdings for the first time since April 18.
The announcements, posted within an hour of each other on May 14, mark the first tangible user-facing milestone since Kelp and Aave announced the recovery plan on May 12.
Withdrawals, Bridging, and Claims Now Active
In a post on X, Kelp DAO said rsETH withdrawals, bridging, and EigenLayer claims are all live as part of the coordinated restart plan. The protocol added that exchange rates will be updated around 4:30 PM CET on May 15, along with EigenLayer claims, and said the update should reflect all staking rewards that accrued to rsETH holders during the pause.
Kelp outlined two remaining steps: deposits will reopen after a brief stabilization window, and the remaining tranches of rsETH will be sent over the next two weeks by Aave and Kelp to fully refill the LayerZero OFT adapter lockbox. The protocol reiterated that rsETH remains fully backed across mainnet and all Layer 2 networks.
Aave’s post confirmed the unpausing, quoting Kelp’s announcement and adding its “End of Thread” security warning urging users to watch for impersonation scams during the restart period.
Recovery Context
The April 18 exploit, widely attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, drained approximately 116,500 rsETH through a forged cross-chain message on Kelp’s LayerZero-powered bridge. The attack generated roughly $190 million in bad debt on Aave after the exploiter deposited stolen rsETH as collateral to borrow WETH, triggering market freezes across multiple chains and sparking billions in withdrawals from DeFi lending protocols.
The recovery was orchestrated through a coalition effort called DeFi United, which raised more than $300 million in ETH commitments from contributors including Lido, Ether.fi, LayerZero, Mantle, Aave founder Stani Kulechov, and others. Aave and Kelp burned the exploiter’s rsETH on Arbitrum, and the Arbitrum DAO approved the release of 30,766 frozen ETH to the recovery effort, although that transfer remains subject to ongoing federal court proceedings involving North Korea terrorism creditors.
Kelp has also announced a migration from LayerZero to Chainlink’s CCIP for cross-chain infrastructure, after LayerZero acknowledged that its single-verifier design was insufficient for securing high-value transactions.
What Users Should Know
Holders who had rsETH deposited on Aave across the five affected chains can now withdraw. However, deposits remain temporarily paused while the protocol completes a stabilization window. Exchange rates are being updated to incorporate accrued staking rewards, and the full lockbox refill of 117,132 rsETH is expected to take approximately two more weeks.
rsETH was trading at approximately $2,420 at the time of writing, up roughly 6.6% over the past seven days, according to CoinGecko data.
Also Read: Kelp DAO’s Vulnerability Was Flagged 15 Months Ago — DeFi Failed to Act
