DeFi United gathers ETH funding commitments; the rsETH recovery plan enters the governance approval review stage

According to a post from Aave’s official X account on April 28, the DeFi United ecosystem alliance has released a technical implementation plan. Its goal is to restore KelpDAO rsETH collateral support and normal operation of liquidity markets. Per the announcement, DeFi United has completed the required ETH funding commitments and plans to restore rsETH to the nominal exchange rate by injecting funds into the bridge custody contract in multiple tranches.

Core Elements of the Recovery Plan

According to Aave’s official announcement, DeFi United’s technical solution includes two parallel execution paths.

Reserve Recovery Path: DeFi United will convert the committed ETH into rsETH in batches, and then deposit it into the affected bridge custody contract (RSETH_OFTAdapter), so that the rsETH reserves reach the nominal exchange rate of 1.07 ETH, thereby restoring the bridge’s full operational capability.

Position Liquidation Path: The announcement states that the rsETH oracle price will be temporarily adjusted via a governance proposal to carry out a controlled liquidation of the attacker’s positions. The recovered rsETH collateral will be transferred to a multisig account managed by DeFi United, and then converted into ETH through Kelp’s standard redemption process. The proceeds will be used to fill the funding shortfalls in the Aave Ethereum and Arbitrum markets. The announcement confirms that all temporary configuration adjustments will be fully restored after the liquidation process is completed.

Protocols and Governance Mechanisms Involved

According to Aave’s official announcement, this recovery plan involves the following entities and protocols:

Aave V3 (Ethereum main markets and Arbitrum markets): The liquidation of the attacker’s positions must be executed through two separate governance proposals deployed for the two chains, with an expected recovery of about 13,000 ETH

Compound: DeFi United will provide the required liquidity to help clear the attacker’s positions; according to the announcement, this is expected to recover about 16,776 ETH

KelpDAO / Kelp: Responsible for rsETH’s standard redemption process—converting collateral into ETH to cover market shortfalls

LayerZero: The announcement notes that LayerZero and Kelp have deployed additional security measures before the bridge adapter restoration

According to Aave’s official announcement, during the recovery execution period, WETH and rsETH reserves on five chains—Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, and Linea—will remain frozen.

Event Background and Key Data

According to Aave’s official announcement, this recovery plan stems from the rsETH bridge adapter vulnerability incident on April 18, 2026. The attacker targeted the bridge contracts for the Unichain-to-Ethereum rsETH route. By forging inbound data packets, they completed verification on the Ethereum side, while the Unichain side did not execute the corresponding burn operations—resulting in 116,500 rsETH being released from the Ethereum-side adapter.

According to the data disclosed in Aave’s official announcement:

Initial Amount of rsETH Stolen: 116,500 rsETH

rsETH Still in the Attacker’s Positions: about 107,000 rsETH (distributed across seven attacker-associated addresses)

Aave (Ethereum and Arbitrum) Expected Recovery: about 13,000 ETH

Compound Expected Recovery: about 16,776 ETH

Nominal Target Exchange Rate for rsETH: 1.07 ETH

Frequently Asked Questions

When was DeFi United’s rsETH recovery plan released? What was the source of the release?

According to Aave’s official X account announcement, DeFi United’s technical implementation plan was officially released on April 28, 2026, and the announcement source is Aave’s official community social media account.

Which chains are involved in the freezing of WETH and rsETH? When will they be unfrozen?

According to Aave’s official announcement, WETH and rsETH reserves on five chains—Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, and Linea—remain frozen during the recovery execution period. The announcement explains that all temporary adjustments will be fully restored after the liquidation process is completed; the specific timing depends on the completion of governance approvals and execution progress.

Which protocols and amounts are involved in this liquidation action?

According to Aave’s official announcement, the liquidation action involves two major protocols: Aave V3 (Ethereum main market and Arbitrum market) and Compound. The target for liquidation is the attacker’s position holding about 107,000 rsETH. Aave is expected to recover about 13,000 ETH, and Compound is expected to recover about 16,776 ETH.