Arbitrum DAO vs US Court: $71M Kelp Hack ETH Stuck In Legal Limbo


April 18: Lazarus Group drained $292M from Kelp DAO.
April 20: Arbitrum froze 30,766 ETH (~$71M) of stolen funds.
May 7: DAO vote (100% YES so far) to release ETH to DeFi United for victim recovery.
The twist 👇
A US court restraining order now blocks Arbitrum from touching the funds. Lawyers for a 2015 North Korea terror judgment ($330M) are claiming the ETH as DPRK property.
Why it matters:
➡️ First major DeFi governance vs US federal court clash
➡️ The freeze itself made funds legally reachable
➡️ Kelp victims face indefinite recovery delays
➡️ Sets precedent for every future DAO emergency action
DAOs can vote. US courts can override.
"Code is law" just met its hardest stress test.
ARB-4.29%
ETH0.84%
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