According to Bitcoin.com News, a cross-chain exploit of KelpDAO in April 2026 resulted in the theft of approximately $290 million in restaked Ethereum assets. The vulnerability occurred not in the smart contract itself, but in the separately trusted verifier network that the bridge architecture depended on.
In response, Albert Dadon, founder of the privacy-preserving chain AEREDIUM, argues that financial networks must shift rule enforcement from governance structures to hardware enclaves to achieve true credible neutrality independent of sovereign pressure.