The Arbitrum Security Council froze 30,766 ETH that the Kelp DAO attacker had moved to an Arbitrum One address.
Crypto pundit Star has highlighted that crypto decentralization is a myth, noting that crypto networks and firms can freeze funds. The pundit specifically alluded to the Tether freeze and Arbitrum’s move to freeze the crypto assets stolen by the Kelp DAO exploiter. Pundit Highlights Crypto Decentralization Myth In an X post, Star stated that centralization has been exposed inside TRON USDT. The pundit noted that Tether just executed the largest freeze in its history, freezing $344 million USDT, which it carried out in coordination with OFAC and the U.S. law enforcement. This was executed directly through the USDT smart contract, with the funds visible but completely unusable. Related Reading: What The Kelp DAO’s $292 Million Hack Means For XRP Holders Earning Yield Further commenting on how it works, Star explained that Tether has admin control over USDT contracts, which proves that crypto decentralization is a myth. The pundit added that this admin control enables the USDT issuer to blacklist any address, freeze balances instantly, and permanently destroy funds. It is worth noting that Tether had confirmed the freeze, stating that it supported the U.S. government in freezing $344 million USDT across two addresses, which were on the TRON network. The firm added that the freeze was executed after the addresses were identified, preventing further movement of funds. A CNN report confirmed that the U.S. government directed the freeze of these USDT funds because they are linked to Iran. Iran had notably opted against stablecoins in favor of Bitcoin for toll payments at the Strait of Hormuz over fears of seizure, further highlighting the myth around crypto decentralization. Meanwhile, Star pointed out that the Tether freeze on TRON came just days after the network’s founder, Justin Sun, said that TRON is the most decentralized blockchain in the world after the Arbitrum incident. Sun has yet to comment on the Tether freeze on the TRON network, which occurred earlier this week. The Arbitrum Incident Also Raises Concerns Star also cited the Arbitrum incident to highlight that crypto decentralization is a myth. Earlier this week, Arbitrum announced that the network’s Security Council had taken emergency action to freeze the 30,766 ETH being held in the Arbitrum address that is connected to the Kelp DAO exploiter. Related Reading: Remember Arbitrum? This Analyst Just Predicted That A 7,400% Rally Is Coming The network stated that the Security Council acted with input from law enforcement regarding the exploiter’s identity. It is worth noting that the Kelp DAO exploiter had stolen up to $292 million in staked ETH from the Kelp DAO bridge last weekend. Meanwhile, Arbitrum’s decision to freeze this ETH drew mixed reactions. Crypto pundit Pledditor noted that Arbitrum, which has regularly received praise from Vitalik Buterin as the most decentralized Layer-2, has just frozen funds. On the other hand, Helius CEO Mert praised the move, noting that Arbitrum having the means of control and refusing to use it to appease the exploiters would be a “much worse and dishonorable outcome.” Featured image from Pxfuel, chart from Tradingview.com
The standard Constitutional AIP lifecycle runs roughly 49 days from forum publication to onchain execution, a timeline some delegates say is too long.
Arbitrum’s Security Council has frozen 30,766 ETH tied to the KelpDAO exploit, moving the funds out of an address on Arbitrum One and into an intermediary wallet that now requires further governance action to unlock. At roughly $71 million, the move was large enough on its own. What made it more consequential was the method: a crypto governance body stepping in directly to override the normal finality of chain-held funds. In its statement, Arbitrum said: “The Arbitrum Security Council has taken emergency action to freeze the 30,766 ETH being held in the address on Arbitrum One that is connected to the KelpDAO exploit. The Security Council acted with input from law enforcement as to the exploiter’s identity, and, at all times, weighed its commitment to the security and integrity of the Arbitrum community without impacting any Arbitrum users or applications.” The funds had been transferred to what Arbitrum described as an intermediary frozen wallet. On-chain intelligence firm Arkham confirmed the action via X: ”ARBITRUM RECOVERS $70.9M FROM KELPDAO EXPLOITER. The Arbitrum Security Council just removed $70.97M ETH from the KelpDAO Exploiter’s addresses. They sent it to the address 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000DA0. North Korea stole the money and Arbitrum stole it back.” ARBITRUM RECOVERS $70.9M FROM KELPDAO EXPLOITER The Arbitrum Security Council just removed $70.97M ETH from the KelpDAO Exploiter’s addresses. They sent it to the address 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000DA0 North Korea stole the money and Arbitrum stole it back. pic.twitter.com/4H2FbzyZss — Arkham (@arkham) April 21, 2026 The frozen ETH is just one part of a much larger incident, as NewsBTC reported. KelpDAO was exploited on April 18 for about $290 million. LayerZero describes the event as isolated to KelpDAO’s rsETH configuration and tied to a single-DVN setup rather than broader contagion across the protocol. In a separate statement, KelpDAO said the April 18 incident involved a forged cross-chain message and later thanked Arbitrum’s council, ecosystem stakeholders and SEAL 911 for helping coordinate the response. “We appreciate the recent decision by the Arbitrum Security Council to take action in response to the LayerZero-DVN/rsETH incident of April 18. Over the past two days, the KelpDAO team has worked closely and constructively with members of the security council […] We would like to particularly acknowledge the exceptional efforts of Security Alliance’s SEAL 911 among countless others, whose coordination, information structuring, and stakeholder engagement were instrumental in bringing clarity and urgency to this process,” KelpDAO via X. We appreciate the recent decision by the @arbitrum Security Council to take action in response to the LayerZero-DVN/rsETH incident of April 18. Over the past two days, the KelpDAO team has worked closely and constructively with members of the security council and broader… https://t.co/E7CHGbypPc — Kelp (@KelpDAO) April 21, 2026 Arbitrum Sparks Fresh Decentralization Debate That left the industry arguing over two different questions at once: whether the recovery was justified, and what it says about the systems involved. Griff Green, a member of Arbitrum’s Security Council, framed the decision as an extraordinary but necessary intervention. “We did not make this decision lightly, there were countless hours of debates, technical, practical, ethical and political,” he wrote. “But all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing, so today, we decided to do something.” The comment carried extra weight because Arbitrum’s council is not an abstract mechanism; it is a 12-member committee elected by the DAO to handle critical risks and emergency decisions. Critics, though, saw the same event very differently. In one of the sharper reactions on X, commentator Deestar (@Deestar) argued that “while this is really great news, it’s a proof that almost nothing in crypto is truly decentralized.” so basically Arbitrum security council moved $71 million in ETH out of the hackers wallet desperate times shows the true nature of crypto space the security council that made this decision are just 12 people, likely in the same location while this is really great news it’s a… https://t.co/zkgFNCsU0o pic.twitter.com/zYizGovwwk — Deestar (@Deestar) April 21, 2026 He pushed the point further: “If your government comes after your money, only Bitcoin can save you.” That critique is more polemical than technical, but it goes straight to the fault line this episode exposed. A network can call itself decentralized, yet still retain a small, coordinated emergency body with the power to seize control of assets (when the stakes are high enough). At press time, Arbitrum (ARB) traded at $0.1266. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Aftermath conditions from Kelp DAO’s exploit has opened a broader debate over DeFi’s security model, after billions left Aave.
Wallets tied to the approximate $292 million Kelp DAO exploit have begun moving funds across chains following Arbitrum’s ETH freeze.
The Arbitrum Security Council said the frozen funds will only be moved by further action through Arbitrum governance.
Crypto analyst Crypto Patel has predicted that the Ethereum layer-2 Arbitrum could record a 7,400%, providing a bullish outlook for the altcoin. He also revealed key levels for investors to keep an eye out for as the position for this potential rally. Arbitrum Eyes 7,400% Run With Price Down 96% From ATH In an X post, Crypto Patel predicted that Arbitrum could rally 7,400, with the price currently down 96% from its all-time high (ATH) of $2.40. He noted that ARB got trapped inside a brutal descending channel after its 2024 top, which led to the 96% crash from its ATH. The analyst added that retail investors have gotten trapped in bull traps in every minor bounce before the next leg down. Related Reading: Altcoins To Make New Millionaires: Pundit Says Money Printer Will Turn On Once Bitcoin Does This Commenting on the current Arbitrum price action, Crypto Patel revealed that the price is sitting above a high-risk, higher-timeframe accumulation zone following the liquidation phase. He added that ARB has shown the first real sign of strength, with price up 57% from its lows. This higher timeframe high-risk accumulation zone is notably between $0.095 and $0.07. Crypto Patel stated that market participants should be watching for a breakout and retest of the descending trendline. There could also be a liquidity sweep below the dynamic trendline. Meanwhile, the bullish structure remains valid only above the $0.27 reclaim. An invalidation could happen with a 2-week close below $0.065 for Arbitrum. The analyst also mentioned that descending channels, as in this case, often print multiple false reversals before the real one occurs. Crypto Patel reiterated key levels to watch, including the higher timeframe demand zone, the breakdown zone, and the trend reclaim zone. Meanwhile, the bull cycle targets are $0.27, $0.50, $1.2, $2.5, and $5. ARB’s Price Action is Similar To 2020’s Price Action In an X post, crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe stated that Arbitrum is one of many altcoins that have similarities with the beginning of 2020 in terms of price action. He noted a strong bullish divergence on the daily timeframe, indicating that the altcoin is ready to record a bullish reversal. Related Reading: Can An Altcoin Season Come Again? Why Bitcoin Price Can’t Fall Below $40,000 He highlighted other positives for Arbitrum, such as a clear breakout above the 21-day moving average (MA). At the same time, volume is kicking in, and momentum is picking up as other tokens in the Ethereum ecosystem also wake up. Michaël van de Poppe noted that the breakout above the 21-day MA is the first time since the summer of 2025. He added that ARB is currently at the phase where it is trying to build a base. At the time of writing, the Arbitrum price is trading at around $0.1241, down over 2% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
Robinhood Chain is an Ethereum Layer 2 built on Arbitrum designed to support tokenized real-world assets and onchain financial services.
The testnet will support experimentation to identify issues and improve network stability ahead of a mainnet launch.
The Robinhood Chain, built on Ethereum-based Arbitrum, aims to become key plumbing for around-the-clock trading and plugging tokenized stocks into DeFi.
The company plans to deploy the fresh capital toward yield vaults, onchain trading expansion, and growth across Latin America and Europe.
CoinDesk sat down with Robinhood’s head of crypto, Johann Kerbrat, to get an update on its upcoming layer-2 network, its tokenized stocks program, and its staking offerings.
FRNT, issued under the Wyoming Stable Token Act, represents the first blockchain-based asset backed by a U.S. state.
2025 has been the year that the Layer 2 narrative bifurcated: most new launches have become ghost towns shortly after airdrop farming cycles, while only a small handful of L2s have managed to escape this phenomenon. Rollup ecosystems have matured from pure scaling experiments into distribution networks, while the key to growth is no longer […]
Horizen, born from a 2017 project, aims to enable regulatory-compliant privacy as a 'practical option' on Base through its mainnet Layer 3.
Built on Arbitrum, the perpetuals protocol has processed $25 billion in trading volume by offering self-custodial bets on gold, FX and other real-world markets.
The network introduces intent-based routing and multi-source liquidity, with unified verification expected later through Avail DA.
The researchers argue WASM, which has been battle-tested across billions of execution environments, is a better long-term bet than RISC-V.
The Arbitrum Foundation has hired Brendan Ma, formerly of Immutable and Goldman Sachs, as its head of investment strategy.
Ethereum is entering its next phase of evolution with the Fusaka upgrade. With more than just another technical iteration, Fusaka represents a major step toward solving Ethereum’s long-standing scalability and efficiency challenges. Why Fusaka Matters For Ethereum’s Next Era Of Decentralized Innovation Crypto markets are buzzing with the anticipation of the Ethereum Fusaka Upgrade. According to the CryptosRus post on X, VanEck has mentioned that the upcoming Fusaka upgrade, expected in December, could unlock one of the most transformative moments in the network’s history, making ETH faster, cheaper, and more scalable than ever before. Related Reading: Big Move: Ethereum Foundation Trades $4.5M ETH For Stable Assets The Fusaka upgrade will introduce PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling), a breakthrough that allows validators to verify blocks without downloading them in full. This innovation will significantly improve efficiency, increase blob capacity, enhance throughput for rollups, and reduce transaction costs for users across the ecosystem. As CryptosRus explains, the best way to imagine this is like ETH upgrading its plumbing, resulting in cheaper and faster operation for everyone using the network. However, VanEck believes Fusaka could be a game-changer, especially for rollups such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base, which depend on ETH for settlement. By reducing data overhead and optimizing block verification, the upgrade strengthens ETH’s foundation as the global base layer for crypto’s financial infrastructure. Furthermore, as network fees drop, ETH’s monetary importance rises. VanEck also believes that ETH is evolving from a simple gas token into the settlement currency of the entire rollup economy. Fusaka represents the next major phase in ETH’s journey, transforming it from a programmable chain into the financial backbone of Web3, ready to power the next wave of global digital finance. Analyst Tom Tucker shared his thoughts that Ethereum might be on track for a revolution. If the price continues to follow a pattern correlated with this increase in global money supply (M2) liquidity, it could climb to $15,000. Tucker highlights that the rapid increase in M2 is causing Fiat money to lose value fast, and ETH is being viewed as a smart hedge against global monetary debasement. “Doubters are gonna doubt, but this looks like a solid opportunity to me,” the expert noted. The Hidden Correlation Fueling ETH’s Next Rally Ethereum’s path to a new all-time high may be building faster than many in the market are expecting. Economist trader known as MikybullCrypto highlighted that the Russell index, which measures the performance of small-cap US stocks and tends to track the credit cycle, has just broken a new all-time high for the first time in four years. Related Reading: Global M2 Money Supply Says Ethereum Price Will Reach $20,000, Here’s When The trader noted that ETH has maintained a positive correlation with the Russell 2000 cycle. In addition, this historical breakout indicates a fresh wave of capital rotation into ETH and the broader altcoin market. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
Arbitrum, the largest Ethereum layer-2 protocol, has launched a new initiative designed to channel liquidity into decentralized finance. The DeFi Renaissance Incentive Program (DRIP), announced on Sept. 3, will allocate up to $40 million in rewards to users performing targeted on-chain actions rather than simply generating attention. The program, structured by Entropy and powered by […]
The post Arbitrum launches $40M DeFi incentive amid intensifying L2 race appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Season one of the DAO's $40 million DeFi Renaissance Incentive Program (DRIP), is aimed to drive up DeFi in its ecosystem
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
The move initially targets blockchains including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Base, Avalanche, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
The Frontier Stable Token (FRNT) will go live on seven blockchains: Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, and Solana.
The initiative is set to distribute 30 million ARB tokens over 12 months, following the approval of a proposal by ArbitrumDAO.
The platform aims to close the cash yield gap between Europe and the U.S., projecting to reach $1 billion in AUM by the end of the year.
PYUSD is going live on Arbitrum, according to an updated version of PayPal's cryptocurrency terms and conditions page.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.