rsETH Incident Report (April 20, 2026)

Summary

The Arbitrum Security Council has taken emergency action to freeze the 30,766 ETH being held in one of the rsETH hacker’s address on Arbitrum One. As of April 21 03:35:08 AM UTC the funds have been successfully transferred to an intermediary frozen wallet. They are no longer accessible to the address that originally held the funds, and can only be moved by further action by Arbitrum governance, which will be coordinated with relevant parties.

Assuming the same scenarios as in the original post and that the seized funds are returned to Kelp’s rsETH backing (to the total backing under Scenario 1 or to the L2 backing under Scenario 2), we present an estimation of the updated bad debt figures across Aave V3 markets.

Bad debt by debt asset

Under the new assumptions:

  • Scenario 1 (uniform socialization) now produces an estimated $62.4M in bad debt vs. the previously estimated figure of $123.7M.
  • Scenario 2 (Layer 2 isolated) now produces an estimated $162.5M in bad debt vs. the previously estimated figure of $230.1M.
Debt asset S1 bad debt (tokens) S1 bad debt (USD) S2 bad debt (tokens) S2 bad debt (USD)
WETH 26,043.41 $60,377,758 69,680.47 $161,266,741
wstETH 717.10 $2,049,381 424.79 $1,210,515
USDC 0.00 $0 744.13 $744
WETH.e (Avalanche) 0.002 $4 0.010 $24
Total - $62,427,143 - $162,478,024

Bad debt by chain

Chain Scenario 1 bad debt Scenario 2 bad debt
Ethereum Core $46,677,898 $0
Arbitrum $5,531,152 $61,740,363
Base $3,368,067 $34,147,805
Linea $26,146 $624,625
Mantle $5,911,064 $55,977,819
Avalanche $4 $24
Ink Whitelabel $912,812 $9,987,388
Total $62,427,143 $162,478,024

Scenario 1 per-reserve shortfall

With the new estimations under the loss socialization scenario, Mantle aWETH holders still absorb the largest relative shortfall at 5.44%. Ethereum takes the largest absolute loss ($44.8M), but the WETH reserve is large enough that the shortfall is only 0.75%. Ink comes in at 1.18%.

Chain Reserve Bad debt (USD) Bad debt (tokens) aToken supply (USD) aToken supply (tokens) Shortfall
Ethereum WETH $44,780,772 19,304.59 $5,979,515,263 2,577,715.68 0.75%
Mantle WETH $5,911,064 2,551.56 $108,757,540 46,946.15 5.44%
Arbitrum WETH $5,378,898 2,325.97 $331,510,045 143,353.39 1.62%
Base WETH $3,368,067 1,455.52 $204,044,391 88,178.62 1.65%
Ethereum wstETH $1,897,127 663.67 $3,103,212,462 1,085,599.46 0.06%
Ink WETH $912,812 394.48 $77,368,235 33,435.23 1.18%
Arbitrum wstETH $152,254 53.43 $55,470,617 19,465.40 0.27%
Linea WETH $26,146 11.28 $32,987,373 14,237.60 0.08%
Avalanche WETH.e $4 0.002 $32,853,108 14,192.62 0.00%
Base wstETH $0 0.00 $37,049,883 12,993.15 0.00%

Scenario 2 per-reserve shortfall

Under the scenario which penalizes L2s only, the ranking is preserved between the old and new estimations, but every L2 shortfall drops materially. Mantle aWETH falls from 71.45% to 51.47%; Arbitrum moves from 26.67% to 18.26%; Base from 23.28% to 16.74%; Ink from 18.00% to 12.91%. Ethereum remains untouched because Scenario 2 does not haircut mainnet rsETH.

Chain Reserve Bad debt (USD) Bad debt (tokens) aToken supply (USD) aToken supply (tokens) Shortfall
Mantle WETH $55,977,819 24,163.32 $108,757,540 46,946.15 51.47%
Arbitrum WETH $60,529,851 26,174.65 $331,510,045 143,353.39 18.26%
Base WETH $34,147,059 14,756.79 $204,044,391 88,178.62 16.74%
Ink WETH $9,987,388 4,316.12 $77,368,235 33,435.23 12.91%
Arbitrum wstETH $1,210,512 424.79 $55,470,617 19,465.40 2.18%
Linea WETH $624,625 269.59 $32,987,373 14,237.60 1.89%
Base USDC $744 744.13 $197,709,602 197,740,692.27 0.00%
Avalanche WETH.e $24 0.010 $32,853,108 14,192.62 0.00%
Base wstETH $2 0.001 $37,049,883 12,993.15 0.00%

We will continue to update the community as the situation evolves.

Disclaimer

This report has been prepared using publicly available information and on-chain data at the time of writing, which may be incomplete or subject to change. The analyses, scenarios, and figures presented are based on assumptions and modeling choices that may not reflect actual outcomes. Differences between assumed and realized conditions, including market behavior, protocol actions, and third-party decisions, may result in materially different results.

This report is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. It should not be relied upon as the sole basis for any decision or action. References to third parties are illustrative and do not imply any commitment, participation, or responsibility by such parties.

No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein, and no liability is accepted for any loss arising from its use.

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