KelpDAO announces the resumption of rsETH bridging and will reopen withdrawals within 24 hours

KelpDAO announced on X on May 14 that, in line with the coordinated restart plan agreed with Aave, the first batch of rsETH has been transferred by Aave to the LayerZero OFT adapter, and the rsETH cross-chain bridge connectivity has been officially restored. Users can now freely move rsETH bidirectionally between the mainnet and L2.

Officially confirmed restoration schedule: bridging, withdrawals, deposits, and full replenishment

KelpDAO’s official statement on May 14 confirmed the specific recovery milestones for the following services:

Cross-chain bridging: Restored on May 14; bidirectional transfers between mainnet and L2 are immediately available

rsETH withdrawal function: Restored within 24 hours after the announcement

Deposits reopened and exchange-rate updates: Completed within 48 hours after the announcement

Staking rewards during the suspension period: Accumulated and distributed to all rsETH holders

Remaining rsETH batch replenishment: Injected in batches over the next two weeks by the Aave Recovery Guardian and Kelp Recovery Safe, until the lockbox contract is fully replenished

KelpDAO confirms that rsETH on both the mainnet and the L2 layer remains fully backed throughout the entire recovery period.

Implemented security upgrades (BailSec audit completed)

Kelp and Aave confirmed that the following security upgrades have been completed and passed BailSec’s independent audit:

Verification mechanism: Now requires 4 independent validators to pass

Block confirmation count: Increased from 42 to 64

Direct L2-to-L2 connections: All have been retired

Kelp also announced that it is migrating to CCIP to further strengthen the security of cross-chain bridging. Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov confirmed that the team has started building higher-level security resilience.

Market data status

As of May 14, Aave’s total deposits (TVL) were about $27.8 billion, down about 38% from $45 billion prior to the hack incident. Aave’s stablecoin supply has rebounded from its low point to $8.7 billion, up about $1.4 billion from the trough.

Frequently asked questions

What actions do rsETH holders need to take now?

According to KelpDAO’s official announcement, users can immediately perform bidirectional rsETH transfers between the mainnet and L2. The withdrawal function will be restored within 24 hours, and the deposit function plus exchange-rate updates will be completed within 48 hours. Simply follow the normal process to operate. KelpDAO has not required holders to take any proactive migration or confirmation steps.

How does the burning of 17,132 rsETH by the attacker affect the assets of legitimate holders?

KelpDAO confirmed that rsETH on both the mainnet and the L2 layer remains fully backed throughout the entire event, and that the burned tokens are the ones held by the attacker. The remaining batches will be injected in batches within two weeks by the Aave Recovery Guardian and Kelp Recovery Safe to ensure the lockbox contract is fully replenished, so legitimate holders’ assets are unaffected.

What role did DeFi United play in this recovery?

DeFi United is an industry coordination mechanism initiated by Aave after the hack, raising 137k ETH (about $317 million) to provide the funding base to cover the rsETH shortfall. In the coordinated restart plan, the Aave Recovery Guardian is responsible for transferring the first batch of rsETH to the LayerZero OFT adapter and for the subsequent batch replenishment work over the following two weeks.