Aave TVL Decreases by 43%, Impact of Bridge Attack Continues

Aave's total value locked (TVL) has not recovered since the KelpDAO rsETH bridge attack. As of the 19th, Aave's TVL stands at approximately $14.6 billion (around 20.6 trillion KRW), reflecting a 43% decrease since the attack on April 18. The attack did not involve a breach of Aave's smart contracts; instead, the attacker exploited KelpDAO's LayerZero V2 route to steal 116,500 rsETH, of which 89,567 rsETH were deposited back into Aave. The attack occurred at 2:35 AM KST on April 19, and Aave froze the rsETH and wrsETH reserves at 4 AM the same day. The scale of the attack was $292 million (approximately 41.29 billion KRW), with LayerZero identifying the attacker as TraderTraitor (UNC4899), linked to North Korea. Due to the decrease in Aave's liquidity, depositors are withdrawing, and the TVL is an indicator reflecting price fluctuations, new deposits, and withdrawal flows. Aave Labs announced in a May development update that they are working on the DeFi United recovery efforts. Currently, rsETH has entered a partial normalization phase, but the recovery of TVL remains limited.