North Korea-Linked Hackers Nab $578M in April DeFi Heists After Kelp Exploit

North Korea-linked hackers stole $578 million in April via Kelp DAO ($292M) and Drift ($285M) exploits, investigators confirm, tying funds to Lazarus Group wallets. Starting with reports of over $500M siphoned in two weeks, the Kelp breach exploited LayerZero's single-verifier flaw to mint unbacked rsETH, enabling $190M borrows and Aave loss estimates of $123M-$230M. Arbitrum froze 30,766 ETH from the attack amid FBI data on $11.37B crypto losses in 2025, amplifying DeFi contagion risks and investor scrutiny despite Bitcoin's prior strength.