Aave says its service providers are now coordinating a "DeFi United" relief effort to restore backing for rsETH, adding a new recovery phase to the fallout from last week's Kelp bridge exploit.

What changed

Aave's April 20 incident report said the attacker used a forged LayerZero message to release 116,500 rsETH from Kelp's Ethereum-side adapter, leaving more than 112,000 rsETH effectively unbacked across remote-chain claims. The report said 89,567 rsETH was then deposited into Aave and outlined bad-debt scenarios ranging from about $123.7 million to $230.1 million, depending on how losses are ultimately socialized.

On April 23, Aave said its service providers had been leading a coordinated effort to restore rsETH backing since the April 18 incident. The first concrete proposal came from Lido, whose research forum post asks the DAO to authorize up to 2,500 stETH for a dedicated relief vehicle. The proposal says the funds would be used only to reduce the rsETH deficit and help avoid disorderly liquidations.

Aave founder Stani Kulechov separately said he plans to contribute 5,000 ETH to the same effort as more partner commitments are formalized.

Why it matters

This is a notable shift from emergency containment toward recapitalization. The key verified point is that Aave itself was not hacked, but one of Ethereum's largest lending venues is still exposed to how quickly the rsETH shortfall can be closed. If DeFi United attracts enough capital, the story could move from damage estimation to an actual template for coordinated DeFi loss sharing.