What Is the Proposal to Unfreeze the Funds?
A proposal to release roughly $71 million in Ether frozen after the Kelp DAO exploit has moved to a governance vote on Arbitrum, as decentralized finance protocols attempt to limit the fallout from one of the largest incidents of the year.
The proposal, co-authored by Aave Labs, Kelp DAO, LayerZero, EtherFi, and Compound, calls for the release of 30,765 ETH that was frozen by Arbitrum’s Security Council on April 21. The funds were moved to a designated address, with the council stating that a governance decision is required before any release.
As of publication, 100% of votes cast supported the proposal, representing 34.2 million ARB tokens. The voting window is set to close next Thursday, after which the process will move through additional governance stages if approved.
How Will the Recovery Process Work?
If the proposal passes, the funds will be transferred to a designated recovery address secured by a 3-of-4 Gnosis Safe, with signers from Aave Labs, Kelp DAO, Certora, and EtherFi. This structure is intended to distribute control across multiple parties rather than concentrating it in a single entity.
The governance process includes an additional “temperature check” via Snapshot to gauge delegate sentiment before the proposal is formally submitted onchain through Tally as a Constitutional Arbitrum Improvement Proposal.
This multi-step process reflects the increasing use of structured governance frameworks in DeFi, particularly in high-impact situations involving large pools of capital and cross-protocol coordination.
Investor Takeaway
What Is the Scale of the rsETH Backing Shortfall?
The exploit on April 18 resulted in the release of 116,500 restaked Ether without a corresponding burn, creating a mismatch between issued tokens and underlying collateral. This has left a significant gap in rsETH’s backing.
At the time of writing, only 40,373 rsETH were held in the adapter contract, compared with confirmed backing for 152,577 rsETH. This implies a shortfall of about 76,127 rsETH, currently valued at approximately $174.5 million.
The 30,765 ETH frozen on Arbitrum is described in the proposal as a “material contribution” toward restoring this backing, although it does not fully close the gap.
Investor Takeaway
How Are Protocols Responding to Contagion Risk?
The proposal is part of a broader effort across the DeFi sector to contain the impact of the exploit. A group of protocols, including Mantle, EtherFi Foundation, Golem Foundation, Lido DAO, Ethena, LayerZero, Ink Foundation, and Tyrdo, have pledged a combined 43,000 ETH to a coordinated recovery initiative.
The goal is to stabilize affected assets and limit spillover effects across interconnected protocols. The incident has highlighted how vulnerabilities in one system can propagate across the broader DeFi ecosystem, particularly when assets are rehypothecated or reused across multiple platforms.
The outcome of the Arbitrum vote will be a key signal for how decentralized governance frameworks respond to large-scale financial disruptions and whether coordinated intervention can restore market stability.