# KelpDAO Files Civil Claim Against LayerZero Over $292 Million Hack

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/23930
Published: 2026-09-25T00:32:57.000Z
Updated: 2026-09-25T00:32:57.000Z

KelpDAO has filed a civil claim against LayerZero and its co-founder and CEO Bryan Pellegrino, opening a legal dispute over an exploit that caused more than $292 million in losses.

Pellegrino disputed the claim, calling it baseless and saying he would defend himself in Vancouver. The filing places LayerZero’s cross-chain infrastructure at the center of a dispute over how the April attack occurred.

The attackers used social engineering to compromise a LayerZero developer account, then targeted KelpDAO’s rsETH configuration. Because the setup used a single verifier, the target contract released assets after receiving one valid signature, allowing rsETH to be stolen.