Kelp DAO protocol
Overview
Kelp DAO is a liquid restaking protocol on Ethereum that allows users to deposit Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) to mint rsETH, a Liquid Restaking Token (LRT). rsETH represents the user's underlying assets plus restaked security via EigenLayer, enabling participation in DeFi while earning restaking rewards.
In April 2026, Kelp DAO suffered a major exploit: attackers abused a single-verifier cross-chain (LayerZero) bridge configuration to mint roughly 116,500 unbacked rsETH, draining about $292 million across some 20 chains — the largest DeFi hack of 2026. Core contracts were paused within an hour of the attack.
Within the DeFi Intel graph, Kelp DAO connects to 44 tracked entities, most strongly to Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base.
Relations
Top connections in the DeFi Intel knowledge graph (confidence-weighted, 10 of 44 total).
| Relation | Connected entity | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
deployed_on | Ethereum | 95% |
deployed_on | Arbitrum | 95% |
deployed_on | Base | 95% |
deployed_on | Optimism | 95% |
provides_lrt_for | EigenLayer | 95% |
restakes_on | EigenLayer | 95% |
deployed_on | zkSync Era | 95% |
deployed_on | Linea | 95% |
deployed_on | Scroll | 95% |
deployed_on | Blast | 95% |
More on Kelp DAO
- Kelp DAO Review 2026 — Liquid Restaking, rsETH, EigenLayer Integration
- Kelp DAO Alternatives: 8 Protocols Compared
Frequently asked questions
What is rsETH?
rsETH is Kelp DAO's liquid restaking token, issued to depositors to represent their proportional share of assets restaked through EigenLayer.
What can be deposited into Kelp?
Users can deposit ETH or liquid staking tokens such as stETH and rETH, and receive rsETH in return.
Was Kelp DAO ever exploited?
Yes. In April 2026 attackers drained roughly $280-290 million via a vulnerability involving Kelp's LayerZero-powered rsETH cross-chain bridge.
Related reading
- Kelp DAO vs Bedrock uniBTC (2026): Full Comparison
- Kelp DAO vs Puffer Finance (2026): Full Comparison
Sources
Facts on this page were verified against the following sources.