Kelp Blames LayerZero for $292 Million Exploit, Plans Switch to Chainlink

According to Kelp DAO's announcement on Tuesday, the protocol blamed LayerZero for approving a risky configuration that enabled a $292 million exploit on April 18. Kelp said LayerZero personnel approved a 1-of-1 verifier setup—relying on a single entity to validate cross-chain transactions—without warning of security risks. The protocol is redesigning its cross-chain system and will migrate rsETH to Chainlink's cross-chain interoperability protocol, which requires multiple independent validators.

About $71 million in crypto linked to the exploit was frozen on Arbitrum, triggering a legal dispute in U.S. federal court. LayerZero disputed Kelp's account in April, saying the exploit resulted from Kelp's use of a single-verifier setup that went against the company's recommended multi-verifier model.