DeFi community comes together to support AAVE users. (CoinDesk)
What to know:
Aave is spearheading a coordinated DeFi recovery effort after the Kelp DAO exploit, with more than $300 million in pledged support from major players like Consensys, Lido, EtherFi, and others, though much remains subject to governance approval.
Contributions span donations, deposits, and credit lines, while Aave is also seeking to unlock the frozen ETH on Arbitrum to help make affected rsETH holders whole, highlighting a rare, ecosystem-wide response to stabilize the ecosystem.
The exploit, which rippled into rsETH markets and created risk across lending positions on Aave, has prompted what is shaping up to be one of the most coordinated industry responses to a DeFi incident.
“There’s a shared priority around supporting users and restoring normal market conditions,” an Aave Labs spokesperson told CoinDesk. “Many of these participants are deeply connected to DeFi, whether through infrastructure, capital, or user access, and have a direct interest in ensuring markets function as expected.”
Top contributors for the ‘DeFi United’ fund (DeFiUnited/CoinDesk)
But the response has quickly extended beyond Aave, and in some cases began with direct outreach.
Following the April 18 bridge hack that impacted rsETH, Kulechov reached out to Consensys and other ecosystem participants early to help coordinate a response, according to a Consensys spokesperson.
The firm, alongside its founder Joseph Lubin, agreed to commit up to 30,000 ETH in financial support to help advance the recovery and protect users. Sharplink played a strategic advisory role in those discussions, the spokesperson said.
“The Ethereum ecosystem has always been at its best when it moves together,” Lubin said in a statement. “DeFi United is exactly that, a broad, coordinated response to protect users and strengthen the infrastructure we’ve all helped build. Consensys is proud to contribute alongside other stewards in the ecosystem.”
The effort has also drawn smaller contributions from across the community.
The list of participants continues to grow. Entities that have not publicly specified the size of their commitments include Ethena, LayerZero, Frax Finance, and Ink Foundation, alongside Tyro.
“These are long-standing Aave relationships across the ecosystem,” the Aave Labs spokesperson added. “Teams like Consensys, Sharplink, and others have been in close contact throughout.”
Not all contributions are structured the same way. Some participants are offering grants, others deposits, and several are extending credit lines, highlighting different approaches to balancing support with risk management.
Much of the capital remains subject to governance approval, and several proposals are still under discussion. Even so, the breadth of participation underscores how widely the exploit’s impact has been felt across DeFi.
“The Ethereum ecosystem has always been at its best when it moves together,” Lubin said. “DeFi United is exactly that: a broad, coordinated response to protect users and strengthen the infrastructure we’ve all helped build.”
Two of the network’s core developer teams, Anza and Jump Crypto’s Firedancer, have landed on the same solution: a new type of digital signature called Falcon.
What to know:
The Solana Foundation said in a new blog post that its core developer teams have aligned on a potential post-quantum solution, identifying the Falcon signature scheme and already building early implementations.
While quantum computing threats remain years away, Solana says it has a clear, phased plan to upgrade wallets and…
