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KelpDAO Bridge Exploit Analysis : North Korean Hackers Steal $292 Million Via Off-Chain Attack
Chainalysis noted that on April 18, 2026, cybercriminals believed to be tied to North Korea’s Lazarus Group executed one of the largest DeFi heists of the year, siphoning approximately $292 million (116,500 rsETH) from KelpDAO’s LayerZero-powered bridge. Unlike typical smart-contract vulnerabilities, this breach targeted off-chain infrastructure, exposing critical weaknesses in cross-chain verification systems.
Chainalysis indicated that the incident underscores how even audited protocols remain vulnerable when single points of failure exist in supporting networks.
The attack centered on KelpDAO’s use of LayerZero’s bridging adapter for transferring rsETH across chains.
The setup relied on Decentralized Verifier Networks (DVNs) to confirm transactions from the source chain, Unichain.
In a risky configuration common for new deployments, KelpDAO employed a single verifier—the LayerZero Labs DVN—creating a 1-of-1 dependency. Attackers exploited this by compromising two internal RPC nodes operated by LayerZero.
They gained access to the DVN’s node list, injected malicious software on isolated clusters, and simultaneously launched a DDoS assault on an external RPC node.
This forced the system to rely exclusively on the tainted internal nodes.
The compromised nodes deliberately reported fabricated block data, falsely indicating that rsETH had been burned on Unichain. No such burn ever occurred.
With the forged message validated by the sole DVN, the Ethereum-side contract released the full 116,500 rsETH to attacker-controlled addresses.
Every on-chain step—message relay, signature verification, and fund transfer—appeared legitimate, evading conventional monitoring tools that scan only individual transactions.
KelpDAO’s team quickly identified the anomaly and activated emergency pauses across Ethereum and its Layer 2 deployments.
They blacklisted the attacker’s addresses and collaborated with security firm SEAL-911, successfully thwarting a follow-up attempt that could have drained an additional $95 million (40,000 rsETH).
On April 20, the Arbitrum Security Council, working with law enforcement, froze more than 30,766 ETH of the stolen proceeds on downstream addresses, preventing immediate laundering while preserving chain integrity for other users.
Chainalysis analysts emphasize that the exploit succeeded because bridges depend on an essential cross-chain invariant: assets released on the destination chain must precisely match those burned or locked on the source.
Here, the phantom release created unbacked rsETH, threatening liquidity pools and collateral systems that rely on the token. Traditional audits and transaction monitors missed the breach entirely, as the manipulation occurred entirely off-chain.
The event highlights urgent lessons for DeFi infrastructure. Single-verifier setups and over-reliance on any one party’s RPC infrastructure represent unacceptable risks in high-value bridges.
Industry professionals recommend multi-DVN configurations and real-time invariant monitoring tools capable of cross-referencing burns and releases across chains.
Such systems could trigger rapid pauses before funds are swapped or bridged further.
While the swift response limited total losses, the attack serves as a reminder and concerning wake-up call that proper governance, coordinated freezes, and advanced detection layers are now essential to safeguarding decentralized finance against state-sponsored threats. Chainalysis concluded that as investigations continue, the case may reveal additional tactics used by the TraderTraitor subgroup of the infamous Lazarus Group.
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Top 10 Markets For Rookie Investors to Invest In This Year
First-time homebuyers and small investors look for many of the same attributes when considering where to buy real estate: affordability, safety, stability, employment, accessibility, limited competition, and prosperity. That’s why Zillow’s 2026 Best Markets for First-Time Homebuyers also serves as a handy cheat sheet for investors.
Kara Ng, a senior economist at Zillow, told CNBC Make It that one thing the top buyer markets have in common is that they are all located in the Midwest or the Sunbelt. In other words, stay away from pricey coastal markets if you’re looking for a good investment.
Having a property that at least pays for itself—given current interest rates—and that increases in equity moderately, should be the goal of any investor who plans to buy using a loan.
Avoiding a financial disaster should the property be vacant for a month or two also ties into the affordability aspect of Zillow’s top picks, where all the selections fall below the 30% of monthly housing costs recommended for financial well-being.
The Zillow Top 10
That said, Zillow’s top 10 list does raise a few eyebrows. Here is the full list, along with the reasons investors should consider these metros.
1. Jacksonville, Florida: Median home price: $282,895
The Florida city was ranked No. 1 by Zillow, primarily due to affordability and, of course, the lure of the Florida lifestyle and bustling port. Florida’s most populous city is never short of potential renters, which is why 21% of single-family homes in the city are owned by corporations.
2. Birmingham, Alabama: Median home price: $135,870
This has been an investor hot spot for a while. A city where around 50% of the population are renters, affordability, and a younger, employed demographic make this a good place to invest.
3. San Antonio, Texas: Median home price: $249,810
Affordability and the relative financial health of the renter population mean this is a place where you are more likely to receive your rent on time.
4. Atlanta, Georgia: Median home price: $385,599
“Hotlanta” is rarely out of the news for sports, entertainment, and more. It has a generally financially well-to-do population, affordable housing, and many employment opportunities, which offer high gross yields for investors in the right neighborhoods.
5. Houston, Texas: Median home price: $264,336
Although the population skews slightly older, it’s generally affordable, with multiple employment opportunities and booming suburbs. The scale of the city and its economic diversity work in Houston’s favor.
6. St. Louis, Missouri: Median home price: $181,928
Over half the Zillow listings here are within reach for first-time homebuyers, which also means that rent is affordable and cash-flowing opportunities exist.
7. Detroit, Michigan: Median home price: $75,358
Detroit is very much a neighborhood-by-neighborhood, block-by-block city for investors, despite its well-documented demand. Find the right property, though, and it will most likely be affordable, with a large renter pool. Meticulous tenant screening is essential.
8. Raleigh, North Carolina: Median home price: $433,996
Breaking even is the goal in super-hot North Carolina, which is relatively affordable given its high-paying tech and education-driven economy and appreciating prices. It’s a good long-term investment.
9. Baltimore, Maryland: Median home price: $188,101
Baltimore might be a surprising inclusion for some, but don’t let its gritty reputation fool you. Not all of Baltimore is like an episode of The Wire. The home of novelist Anne Tyler and filmmaker John Waters, among many others, Baltimore has an artistic and academic reputation, with several neighborhoods worth investing in, where affordability gives it a clear advantage over other East Coast cities.
10. Louisville, Kentucky: Median home price: $261,482
Median-income renters have plenty of choice here, allowing small investors to cash flow a single-family home. For investors willing to put in some work, it’s possible to unearth some real gems here, such as this one.
What All The Cities Have in Common
Rents in these areas are unlikely to trouble tenants while allowing investors to break even, if not cash flow, even with current interest rates.
Employment and younger demographics all augur well for buy-and-hold investors looking to commit long-term, reaping benefits through appreciation, rent growth, and eventual mortgage paydown.
The Contrast to Other Markets
While it is possible to find more affordable real estate markets, the combination of affordability, a large tenant pool, incomes, and employment makes these Zillow markets vibrant urban ecosystems that buck the trend of inaffordability and negative cash flow that has befallen many pricier markets, where sales are down, complicated by high rates and global geopolitical tensions.
“There is little in the near-term backdrop to suggest a quick rebound in sales,” Daniel Vielhaber, an economist at Nationwide, told Reuters after March’s national sales numbers showed a nine-month low. “We continue to look for sluggish sales this year, particularly in the first half, before a gradual pickup as mortgage rates decline in the second half and into 2027.”
Consequently, the National Association of Realtors lowered its estimate of home sales growth to 4%. “Lower consumer confidence and softer job growth continue to hold back buyers,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said. Plus, “inventory remains a major constraint on the market. The inventory-to-sales ratio, or supply-to-demand ratio, is below historical norms.”
Final Thoughts
While the metros on Zillow’s list aren’t immune to economic and global headwinds, many of these cities have avoided the worst of the predictions due to their inventory, affordability, and lack of cost-burdened tenants.
Recent surveys suggest that the focus will remain on affordable, somewhat insulated markets in which to live and invest. A recent Retirement Confidence Survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research found that Americans—both working and retired—were deeply concerned about their ability to sustain themselves, which plays into the affordability of Zillow’s selections.
“Retirement confidence has clearly softened this year, and the data show why,” said Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at EBRI, in a press release, “Americans are contending with a mix of immediate financial pressures and long-term uncertainty. Many workers are struggling with debt, inflation, and rising housing and healthcare costs, while retirees are increasingly worried about the future of Social Security and Medicare. Together, those pressures are making it harder for people to feel secure about their retirement.”
America’s bid for energy supremacy is being forged in war
Additional work by Jana Tauschinski
Oil and gas tanker location and destination data are from Kpler. The map shows the latest position for vessels with an active AIS signal on April 19–20, filtered by minimum capacity thresholds: crude tankers of at least 50,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT); oil product tankers of at least 55,000 DWT; oil/chemical tankers of at least 40,000 DWT; LNG carriers of at least 150,000 cubic metres; and LPG carriers of at least 50,000 cubic metres. Net fossil fuel import data by country are based on Ember analysis of the IEA World Energy Balances 2023.
Rate cuts seen as more likely next move for Bank of Canada: TD
Resilient growth and contained inflation pressures suggest the Bank of Canada is more likely to ease than tighten if it moves, according to a TD economist.
Businesses spending $4 million to cross the Panama Canal as ‘it’s safer’ than the Strait of Hormuz
Businesses have doled out as much as $4 million for last-minute plans to move boats through the Panama Canal in recent weeks, the Panama Canal Authority says, as Iran war’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz generates a seismic shift in global trade flows.
While passage through the canal usually comes at a flat rate via reservations, companies without bookings can pay more to cross through an auction that awards slots to the highest bidder. The alternative would be waiting for days off the coast of Panama City.
The demand for slots skyrocketed and the auction prices ballooned in recent weeks as a standoff between the Iran and the United States over access to the strait kept traffic bottlenecked. Commercial vessels increasingly have traveled through the Panama Canal carrying shipments that were rerouted or purchased from different countries to avoid the waterway off Iran’s coast.
“With all the bombings, the missiles, the drones … companies are saying it’s safer and less expensive to cross through the Panama Canal,” said Rodrigo Noriega, a lawyer and analyst in Panama City. “All of this is affecting global supply chains.”
Meanwhile, Panama’s government is “maximizing what it can earn from the Panama Canal,” Noriega said.
The average price to cross through the canal ranges between $300,000 and $400,000 depending on the vessel. Previously, to get an earlier crossing, businesses would pay an additional $250,000 to $300,000. In recent weeks, the average additional cost has jumped to around $425,000.
Normally, about 6% of global trade passes through the Panama Canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in Central America, according to Patrick Penfield, professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University. The canal has recovered from several years of drought, he added.
Goods like car parts, grain and consumer electronics being shipped from China to Europe or vice versa, or from China to the U.S. East Coast, pass through the canal.
Some oil passes moves through the Panama Canal, but it isn’t a viable large-scale alternative to the Strait of Hormuz because of its size. The largest ships that carry oil, known as ultra-large container vessels, are too big for the canal.
Ricaurte Vásquez, the canal’s administrator, said one company that he would not name paid an extra $4 million when its fuel vessel had to change its destination because of ongoing geopolitical tensions.
“It was a ship carrying fuel to Europe, and they redirected it to Singapore, and it needed to get there because Singapore is running out of fuel,” he said.
Other oil companies paid an excess of $3 million in addition to the crossing fee to accelerate their passage in the face of soaring oil prices.
The extra fees are becoming so high not because ships are piling up at the canal, but rather because of last-minute shifts and greater urgency for vessels to pass through in the wake of broader trade chaos, Vásquez said. He emphasized that these costs were temporarily being shouldered by companies based on their level of urgency.
“They decide how high to go on the price,” Vásquez said.
At the same time as Panama’s government is earning more money from the newly brisk business in the canal, its shipping industry is being confronted by the geopolitical struggle in the same way as those of other countries.
Panama’s foreign ministry on Wednesday accused Iran of illegally seizing a Panama-flagged vessel from the Italian company, MSC Francesca, in the Strait of Hormuz. Panama, which has one of the world’s largest ship registries, said the ship was “forcibly taken” by Iran. It wasn’t immediately clear if the boat remained in Iranian custody.
“This represents a serious attack on maritime security and constitutes unnecessary escalation at a time when the international community is advocating for the Strait of Hormuz to remain open to international navigation without threats or coercion of any kind,” it said.
Noriega, the analyst, said that the amount companies are paying to cross the Panama Canal may continue to go up if the conflict stretches on, as oil prices are already skyrocketing. The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil briefly jumped above $107 this week, soaring from around $66 a barrel a year ago.
Nobody expected the war to have quite so much effect on global trade, Noriega said.
___
Mae Anderson in New York contributed reporting.
Rakuten Big Give Week, Earn 15% Cash Back at Many Stores May 4-11
Rakuten Big Give Week
Rakuten is advertising a “Big Give Week” promotion which will run for eight days. Running May 4-11, the promotion includes hundreds of stores that will offer 15% cash back and some probably even higher than that.
The following brands are showing as part of the promotion:
- Adidas
- Bluemercury
- Bombas
- Columbia Sportswear
- Dermastore
- DSW
- Expedia
- FARM Rio
- Intimissimi
- Kate Spade Outlet
- KitchenAid
- LEGO
- Lenovo
- LG
- Office Depot
- PetSmart
- Puma
- Ray-Ban
- Sandro
- SoFi
- Sonos
- Ulta
- Verizon
- Viator
and more.
If you don’t have a Rakuten account yet, you can sign up now to earn a $50 bonus. Depending on the account you choose, you can earn that as cash back, or 5,000 Amex or Bilt points.
Intro to Farm business management and records
Introduction to farm business management and keeping records. Some good questions to answer are (1) what are the three sections of a business set of records? (2) What is the listing of accounts that are used to manage business records?
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Why AMD Stock Surged Today
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +13.85%) popped on Friday, following positive analyst commentary.
Image source: Getty Images.
Like its rival, AMD stands to profit from the rise of AI agents
D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria upgraded AMD’s stock to buy from neutral and lifted his price forecast to $375 per share.
Luria pointed to Intel‘s blowout earnings report released after the market close on Thursday as a reason to be bullish on AMD’s shares. The semiconductor titan’s robust sales of data center chips provided clear evidence of the growing need for high-speed central processing units (CPUs) to power AI agents.
“We view Intel’s results as a precursor for a huge step-up for AMD’s CPU franchise and believe the structural shift toward agentic AI workloads is creating unprecedented demand for server CPUs,” Luria said.
Today’s Change
(13.85%) $42.28
Current Price
$347.61
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$498B
Day’s Range
$334.51 – $352.99
52wk Range
$91.87 – $352.99
Volume
3.9M
Avg Vol
37M
Gross Margin
45.99%
Moreover, with demand likely to outpace supply, AMD can raise prices for its high-performance CPUs, according to Luria. That should help to boost the chip designer’s margins and earnings power.
More details are due out soon
Investors can expect to hear more about AMD’s AI-driven sales and profits from its upcoming first-quarter financial report on May 5. The company will also hold a conference call that same day beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET, during which management will likely discuss the chipmaker’s impressive AI-fueled growth prospects.
Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices and Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.