The Arbitrum DAO has initiated a governance vote to release approximately 30,766 ETH — worth about $71.1 million — that was frozen by the Arbitrum Security Council following the massive Kelp DAO hack earlier this month. The funds would be transferred to the DeFi United initiative, a coalition formed to restore lost assets and stabilize the affected protocol.
The vote, launched on April 30, 2026, saw strong early support, with 16.9 million ARB tokens cast in favor within the first hour and zero votes against. Voting will remain open until May 7. If approved, this contribution would be the largest single donation to DeFi United to date, surpassing other major commitments from Consensys, Joseph Lubin, and Mantle.
On April 20, the Arbitrum Security Council exercised its emergency powers — with 9-of-12 approvals — to freeze the attacker's Arbitrum One address, moving the ETH to a governance-controlled contract. The council stated it acted with law enforcement input regarding the exploiter's identity, prioritizing the security of the Arbitrum ecosystem without impacting legitimate users. The decision drew criticism from some community members concerned about centralized power and on-chain immutability, while others defended the action as within the council's mandate.
The Kelp DAO attack, suspected to have been carried out by the North Korean Lazarus Group, exploited a cross-chain communication channel to drain $292 million in rsETH — approximately 18% of the token's circulating supply. The stolen assets were subsequently moved to lending protocols such as Aave, Compound, and Euler, where they were used as collateral to borrow roughly $236 million in WETH and other assets, creating significant debt positions.
In response, several protocols including Kelp DAO and Aave paused contracts or markets. The Aave-led DeFi United initiative was formed to raise funds and restore rsETH's backing. Contributors have donated or loaned over $311 million in ETH and stablecoins as of late April. Beyond Arbitrum's pending contribution, Aave DAO is also voting on releasing 25,000 ETH, LayerZero contributed 5,000 ETH, and Kelp DAO itself added 2,000 ETH.
If the Arbitrum DAO proposal passes, the funds will be transferred to a multi-sig wallet involving Aave Labs, Kelp DAO, and ether.fi, ensuring that any transaction requires approval from at least two of the three parties. A subsequent distribution plan will be developed and put to another DAO vote, detailing how affected users can claim their funds. The process is expected to take several weeks.
