KelpDAO, operating through Evercrest Technologies Inc. filed a civil claim against LayerZero Labs Ltd. and co-founder Bryan Pellegrino in British Columbia on Sept. 24, alleging the universal bridge protocol's infrastructure failures led to a $292 million exploit of its rsETH bridge.
The lawsuit contends LayerZero failed to disclose inherent weaknesses in its technology and failed to prevent infiltration of its security infrastructure, allowing attackers to exploit the bridge. KelpDAO also alleged LayerZero and Pellegrino "publicly blamed us for their failures" rather than taking responsibility.
Pellegrino immediately countered the filing, saying he would "meet them in Vancouver and defend myself accordingly" and describing the claim as "meritless."
On April 22, attackers drained 116,500 rsETH—valued at roughly $292 million—from KelpDAO's cross-chain bridge. A North Korean-linked hack group was allegedly responsible.
The exploit rippled across DeFi. Aave, the largest lending protocol by TVL, borrowed $300 million to cover a spike in withdrawals. The broader ecosystem lost $20 billion in total value locked in the days following the attack.
Since the incident, KelpDAO migrated rsETH's bridge to a different cross-chain security standard. The civil claim is filed under file number 267169 at the Vancouver Law Courts.
