BitGo, Polygon Among Industry Giants Pushing Rate Limits After The Largest DeFi Exploit of 2026

A major DeFi exploit on April 19, 2026 drained $292 million (116,500 rsETH) from KelpDAO’s LayerZero bridge, triggering rapid defensive moves across the industry. BitGo and BiT Global Trust pulled LayerZero DVNs for WBTC, Katana paused an OFT path, and Polygon said its Agglayer remained unaffected. Cyvers blocked a near-miss second theft that would have cost an additional ~$100 million. The breach has reignited calls from protocol leaders for built-in rate limits (e.g., Ethena’s $10M/hour per DVN and $10M-per-block mint caps) and “smart caps” on collateral growth to limit attack vectors. Market impact: heightened perceived risk for cross‑chain bridges and wrapped assets, likely increasing short-term volatility and risk premia across DeFi tokens and related infrastructure until stronger rate‑limiting standards are widely adopted.