How a North Korean $290M crypto heist became DeFi’s nightmare scenario
The KelpDAO attack combined infrastructure compromise, lending manipulation and a $13B blockchain-era bank run
North Korea’s theft of $290 million from the KelpDAO cryptocurrency protocol last month began as a silent breach of obscure infrastructure, but quickly escalated into a daring operation that shook the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry.
The attack on KelpDAO, a liquid restaking protocol that allows users to protect assets across multiple blockchains and earn additional rewards, marked DPRK cybercriminals’ biggest heist so far this year and their second large-scale theft in the space of weeks.
However, the theft itself was only the spark.
The real damage came from what it ignited: a full-scale
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