KelpDAO sues LayerZero for the largest exploit 2026 has seen so far

KelpDAO filed a lawsuit against LayerZero and its co-founder, blaming the universal bridge protocol for the largest exploit of this year, which drained $292 million and triggered one of the largest DeFi runs in crypto history, according to a post on X on Thursday.

“The exploit was a direct result of LayerZero’s failures, including a failure to disclose weaknesses and risks inherent in LayerZero’s own technology,” KelpDAO said.

KelpDAO, a decentralized liquid staking protocol on Ethereum, also accused LayerZero of failing to prevent infiltration of its security infrastructure, claiming that this allowed attackers to exploit the universal bridge’s alleged weaknesses.

“Rather than take responsibility, over the last few months, LayerZero and Mr. Pellegrino publicly blamed us for their failures,” KelpDAO said.

Pellegrino immediately responded that he would see them in a Canadian court.

“Evercrest (KelpDAO) filed a notice of civil claim today in BC (British Columbia, Canada) against myself and LZ (LayerZero),” Pellegrino said. “The claim continues to be meritless. I will meet them in Vancouver and defend myself accordingly.”