News linked to both this project and an event.
that, according to official sources, AaveLabs has proposed restructuring the Aave DAO bug bounty framework into multiple specific subsystem programs, operating on the Immunefi, Sherlock, and Cantina platforms respectively. Core Aave V3, Core Aave V2, GHO, and non-liquidity protocol infrastructure will be covered by Immunefi; Aave V4 and the Aave App Stack will be covered by Sherlock; and Aave V3 on Aptos will be covered by Cantina.The proposal suggests adjusting the bounty scale for each system. The maximum reward for critical vulnerabilities in Core Aave V3 is $5 million, while the maximum reward for critical vulnerabilities in Aave V4 is $2.5 million. Additionally, the funding source for the Aave V3 bug bounty on Aptos will be transferred from Aave Labs to the Aave DAO. This ARFC proposal has currently been passed.
Aave announced that its bug bounty program has been updated to better align rewards with the risk profile of each component within the ecosystem and to streamline the review process. The reward cap for critical vulnerability fixes in Aave V4 and Core Aave V3 has now been increased fivefold.
Odaily Odaily News Gate Research recently released its "April 2026 Cryptocurrency Market Review" report, indicating that the overall cryptocurrency market saw a volatile upward trend in April, with total market capitalization significantly higher than in March. BTC and ETH ETF trading volumes maintained high volatility overall. The report shows continued divergence in activity across major public chain ecosystems. Solana's daily transaction volume remained in the range of approximately 90 million to 110 million transactions, maintaining its leading position.Regarding trending sectors, the report notes that Pokemon TCG RWA has become one of the fastest-growing on-chain RWA sub-sectors, entering a second explosive growth phase in April. Major trading platforms saw monthly trading volumes exceed $220 million, with weekly revenue briefly approaching $6 million, setting new historical records. Meanwhile, Aave experienced its most severe liquidity crisis ever in April, with TVL outflows reaching tens of billions of dollars within a few days and net outflows exceeding $9 billion for the entire month.In terms of fundraising and security incidents, the Web3 industry completed 51 financing rounds in April, totaling approximately $834 million, with capital further concentrating on leading financial and infrastructure tracks. Among these, Payward ranked first for the month with a $200 million financing round. On the security front, Web3 security incidents in April resulted in losses of approximately $306 million, a month-over-month increase of about 858%, primarily driven by a single cross-chain infrastructure attack on Kelp DAO worth approximately $293 million. The report suggests that against the backdrop of a recovering market, on-chain activity and capital liquidity are both increasing simultaneously. However, the security risks associated with cross-chain infrastructure and high-leverage protocols remain worthy of continued attention.
Aave announced that the first batch of rsETH has been transferred to LayerZero’s OFT adapter, and cross-chain transfers of rsETH between the Ethereum mainnet and various L2 networks have now resumed. This development means that the rsETH cross-chain channels previously affected have been restored, covering operations across the Ethereum mainnet and L2 networks.
Aave updated its statement regarding the Arbitrum DAO proposal, noting that the court modified the restraining notice on May 8 to permit Arbitrum DAO to conduct on-chain voting and to transfer the ETH frozen due to the rsETH incident to Aave LLC; upon transfer, the restraining notice will attach to Aave LLC. The revised constitutional AIP retains Arbitrum DAO’s previously approved intent to recover funds, and the relevant ETH will still be used for rsETH recovery. Aave also stated that the plaintiff judgment creditor had served the restraining notice on Arbitrum DAO on May 1 in an unrelated case, after which Aave LLC filed an emergency motion to vacate.
Kelp stated that within the next 24 hours, the team will collaborate with Aave to execute a series of smart contract operations as part of the next phase of the rsETH asset backing process. During this period, users are not required to take any action. Kelp also reminded users that information regarding the reopening of the time window should be taken solely from official channels; subsequent arrangements will be announced after the relevant operations are completed.
According to The Block, the Arbitrum DAO voted to release 30,765.6 ETH (approximately $70 million), previously frozen, to support the DeFi United initiative—aimed at offsetting Kelp DAO’s $292 million exploit loss last month. The vote passed with 90.96% support (182.2 million votes). The attack was allegedly carried out by the North Korean Lazarus hacking group, which exploited a vulnerability in LayerZero’s OFT cross-chain bridge—a single-validator configuration—which allowed attackers to steal 116,500 rsETH and pledge most of the stolen assets as collateral on Aave, resulting in roughly $190 million in bad debt. DeFi United has secured contributions from multiple parties, including 30,000 ETH from Consensys and Joseph Lubin, a 30,000-ETH loan from Mantle, and 5,000 ETH from LayerZero.
Linda Jeng, Chief Legal and Policy Officer at Aave Labs, stated during Consensus Miami 2026 that Aave's previous risk framework overly focused on financial risks and price volatility. Looking ahead, the protocol will incorporate assessments of cross-chain interoperability, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and underlying asset architecture.This reform directly stems from the rsETH incident that occurred in April. At that time, an attacker exploited a vulnerability in the KelpDAO cross-chain bridge to mint approximately 116,500 unbacked rsETH (valued at around $293 million), deposited it as collateral into Aave, and borrowed real WETH, leading to significant bad debt risks for the protocol.Jeng revealed that Aave will also release a formal "listing standards handbook" for asset issuers in the future, and will begin evaluating the correlation between DeFi protocols from a systemic risk perspective, rather than analyzing individual pools in isolation.Additionally, a "DeFi United" bailout plan involving Lido Finance, EtherFi, Ethena, and others has been launched to cover collateral shortfalls and prevent further proliferation of bad debt. (CoinDesk)
According to Cointelegraph, U.S. law firm Gerstein Harrow LLP has filed an application with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking a temporary restraining order and three writs of execution to prevent the Arbitrum DAO from transferring 30,766 ETH (valued at approximately $73 million) frozen following the Kelp vulnerability. The firm argues that its clients obtained default judgments against North Korea in U.S. courts in 2010, 2015, and 2016, entitling them to roughly $877 million in compensation—and contends that the stolen ETH constitutes North Korean-linked assets that should be used to satisfy those judgments. Kelp DAO suffered a $292 million hack on April 18; the attacker was identified as TraderTraitor, a subgroup of the North Korean state-sponsored hacking group Lazarus Group. Aave Labs previously proposed unfreezing the seized funds and transferring them into the “DeFi United” fund to compensate rsETH holders—but this legal action by Gerstein Harrow may significantly delay compensation for victims. Members of the Arbitrum DAO community have criticized the move, arguing it shifts the burden of North Korea’s debts onto another set of victims, thereby exacerbating the original harm. Gerstein Harrow had previously pursued litigation related to the 2023 Heco Bridge hack involving Teth
According to official announcements, Aave Labs, KelpDAO, LayerZero, EtherFi, Compound, and others have submitted an Arbitrum Constitutional AIP proposing the release of 30,765.67 ETH—previously frozen by the Arbitrum Security Council—to the recovery address 0xf228...C15e for compensation and restoration of assets related to the rsETH incident. The proposal states that the KelpDAO rsETH cross-chain incident created a support shortfall of approximately 76,127 rsETH, and the released funds will be incorporated into the coordinated recovery process. The proposal requires no additional treasury funding and estimates the governance process will take approximately 49 days. Currently, the proposal has a 100% voting approval rate, and voting will end at 2:54 AM Beijing Time on May 8.
Odaily News ether.fi CEO Mike Silagadze posted on X platform to explain the reason behind the company's commitment of 5,000 ETH to the Kelp hack recovery fund. He stated that the team believes this incident posed a real risk of "destroying the entire DeFi ecosystem." If Kelp were to go bankrupt, $1.5 billion worth of rsETH could be frozen long-term, potentially bringing the $30 billion Aave lending market to a standstill and triggering a cascading collapse across both DeFi and CeFi, which he described as making "FTX look insignificant by comparison." Mike Silagadze added that while most institutions chose to step back and defer to legal counsel, proactively taking responsibility and quickly raising funds to plug the gap was the right choice to help avert the worst-case scenario.
According to an official announcement by Puffer Finance, the liquid staking protocol Puffer Finance has allocated treasury funds to Aave’s DeFi United program to demonstrate its support for infrastructure development. Puffer Finance stated that, as a liquid staking protocol centered on security, it believes robust infrastructure and consistent incentive mechanisms are fundamental to ensuring DeFi’s resilience during critical moments. The protocol also emphasized that DeFi is a vital component of the modern financial system, and industry participants should compete constructively, continuously build infrastructure, and maintain coordination during critical times.
LayerZero Labs announced on platform X that it has committed over 10,000 ETH in support to DeFi United, led by Aave. Specific actions include donating 5,000 ETH to DeFi United, depositing 5,000 ETH into the Aave market to enhance liquidity, and deepening GHO liquidity.
It is reported that Bybit Alpha and Byreal have now launched $AAVE trading, with the current price on the Solana blockchain at $97. AAVE has previously completed its cross-chain migration to the Solana mainnet.
AAVE has announced the technical implementation plan for the rsETH recovery, proposing a three-phase repair process involving supplementing ETH collateral, cleaning up affected positions, and restoring market parameters, aiming to restore full collateral support for rsETH and resume normal market operations.The plan indicates that DeFi United has coordinated to secure the necessary ETH commitment for the recovery. It will restore rsETH support by batch-converting and injecting into the bridge lockup contract. Simultaneously, it proposes clearing affected positions on Aave and Compound through a governance proposal, recovering approximately 107,000 rsETH in related excess collateral, and gradually lifting the frozen status of the relevant assets.
Circle Ventures, Consensys, and Joseph Lubin have announced their support for the DeFi United initiative, aimed at mitigating losses caused by the Kelp DAO vulnerability. Circle Ventures is supporting the ecosystem by purchasing AAVE tokens. Consensys and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin have confirmed the provision of 30,000 ETH to DeFi United. To date, DeFi United has raised over 132,000 ETH, with a total value exceeding $300 million. These funds will be used to cover bad debts resulting from an attacker minting unbacked rsETH via the LayerZero bridge and borrowing assets on Aave. Previously, Aave proposed a donation of 25,000 ETH, while Lido DAO, Ether.fi, and Kelp have respectively proposed or pledged donations of 2,500 ETH, 5,000 ETH, and 2,000 ETH.
the Avalanche Foundation posted on platform X, stating its support for DeFi United. This is a coordinated action aimed at restoring rsETH collateral support following the incident on April 18. DeFi is undergoing public stress tests with transparent ledgers and real accountability, whereas traditional financial systems often require months or years to complete such repairs. The Avalanche Foundation expressed its support for Aave and the broader DeFi ecosystem.
Circle posted on X platform, stating that Circle Ventures is purchasing AAVE tokens. Aave is helping shape the future of on-chain finance, and Circle Ventures will support the ecosystem and the entire community built around it.
Aave officially posted on X, stating that Ethereum development company Consensys and its founder Joseph Lubin have joined the DeFi United initiative, providing up to 30,000 ETH in financial support for the rsETH recovery effort, with Sharplink continuing to offer strategic advisory support.
According to official announcements, AAVE is now live on the Solana network, supporting trading of this DeFi governance token on platforms such as Phantom and Jupiter. Aave is a non-custodial liquidity protocol that enables users to earn interest by supplying assets to the protocol or borrow against collateral.