Ether.fi launches an aWETH exit channel, with Aave fund outflows exceeding $16.2 billion

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin’s monitoring data on April 23, Aave’s total deposits have fallen from $4.58 billion before the KelpDAO rsETH vulnerability incident to $45.8B. On the same day, Ether.fi posted an announcement on the X platform stating that its Liquid ETH vault has officially opened to accept aWETH deposits, providing an exit route for users who face liquidity constraints on the Aave platform.

KelpDAO rsETH Vulnerability: Key Event Data

According to an official report jointly released by Aave and risk assessment firm LlamaRisk on April 20, a vulnerability emerged in KelpDAO’s LayerZero V2 rsETH bridge adapter on April 18, 2026, resulting in the minting of approximately 116,500 unsecured rsETH tokens, worth about $293 million based on the market price at the time.

The same report shows the estimated potential loss range for this incident is between $123.7 million and $230.1 million. In the $123.7 million scenario, KelpDAO would average its loss across all rsETH holders, with the loss proportion at about 15%. Aave’s current treasury size is $181 million, and Aave DAO has already received an initial commitment from ecosystem partners regarding filling the potential funding shortfall.

DeFi Platform Capital Flow Data

Based on on-chain data, within three and a half days after the April 18 vulnerability incident, capital flowed out of the Aave platform deposits totaling $15.1 billion, dropping from $48.5 billion before the incident to $30.7 billion. As of April 23, according to Yu Jin’s latest monitoring, the deposit size has further fallen to $29.6B.

Meanwhile, Morpho, a competing lending protocol, saw its total deposit balance drop from $11.7 billion to $10.2 billion over the same period. MakerDAO’s ecosystem lending platform SparkLend increased its total value locked (TVL) from $1.9 billion to $3.2 billion, with inflows of capital of roughly $1.3 billion during the period.

According to Cryptopolitan, Tron founder Justin Sun publicly urged the parties related to the KelpDAO vulnerability incident to return the funds, saying: “Anyway, you can’t spend $300 million.” Cryptopolitan also reported the same day that the relevant on-chain addresses have recorded Bitcoin purchase activity; on April 23, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) broke above $78,000.

AAVE Token Price Data

According to TradingView data, in the days following the April 18 vulnerability incident, the AAVE token price fell from around $115 to a low of $90 to $92, a drop of over 20%. As of April 22, AAVE was at $94. Based on on-chain monitoring data, during the event, more than $6 million worth of AAVE tokens was recorded being sold on-chain. The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently close to the neutral zone.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did the KelpDAO rsETH vulnerability event occur, and how many unsecured tokens were minted?

According to the official report published by Aave and LlamaRisk on April 20, the incident occurred on April 18, 2026, when KelpDAO’s LayerZero V2 rsETH bridge adapter developed a vulnerability, leading to approximately 116,500 unsecured rsETH tokens being minted, worth about $293 million based on the market price at the time of the event.

What is the estimated loss range in the joint Aave and LlamaRisk report?

According to the joint official report published by Aave and LlamaRisk on April 20, the estimated potential loss range is between $123.7 million and $230.1 million, and the specific values depend on the loss allocation mechanism adopted by KelpDAO.

What is the exit channel mechanism for Ether.fi Liquid ETH vault?

According to an announcement posted by Ether.fi on the X platform on April 23, the Liquid ETH vault is now open to accept aWETH deposits, offering an alternative exit route for users facing liquidity constraints on the Aave platform; Ether.fi confirmed that the vault does not hold any WETH risk exposure from Aave.