The community of the L2 network Arbitrum has endorsed the transfer of 30,765 ETH, valued at $70 million, to the DeFi United fund.
In April, the project froze these funds at the address of a hacker who breached the Kelp protocol, transferring them to an “intermediate frozen wallet.” In early May, Arbitrum DAO initiated a vote to transfer the funds to cover the attack’s damages.
The proposal was supported by 90.96% of participants, with about 9% abstaining. Upon approval, Arbitrum will become the largest donor to DeFi United. However, the final fate of the 30,765 ETH will be decided by the court.
Legal Uncertainty
On May 1, a US court prohibited Arbitrum from unfreezing the funds stolen by hackers. The assets are claimed by victims of North Korean terrorists, who seek the coins as compensation for incidents dating back to 2015.
Lawyer Gabriel Shapiro previously noted that the project’s DAO cannot dispose of the ETH without a separate court hearing.
if you want some more info on the Arbitrum legal action, here’s the actual court order (yes, there is a real court order, not just ‘a letter from a lawyer’) and a Claude summary
TLDR, the plaintiffs’ lawyers did indeed effectuate a facially *legally binding* freeze on the…
— _gabrielShapir0 (@lex_node) May 2, 2026
The Aave team has already filed an emergency motion to lift the asset freeze, calling the court’s logic legally flawed.
According to platform representatives, even if the attack’s link to the Lazarus Group is confirmed, temporary possession of the stolen coins does not make them the property of the perpetrator.
Earlier, lawyers for the victims of North Korea reclassified the Kelp breach as credit fraud.