{"id":57524,"date":"2026-05-06T04:33:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T04:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/?p=57524"},"modified":"2026-05-06T04:33:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T04:33:36","slug":"aave-requests-lift-of-restraining-notice-in-ethereum-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/aave-requests-lift-of-restraining-notice-in-ethereum-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"Aave Requests Lift of Restraining Notice in Ethereum Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A legal dispute is unfolding over a significant sum of 30,766 Ethereum, which has been frozen following the Kelp DAO hack that occurred on April 18, 2026. Central to this case is a demand for a $300 million bond, with a New York court set to determine whether these funds should remain inaccessible or be released to the victims of the hack.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Legal Movements by Aave<\/span><\/h2>\n

Aave has initiated an emergency motion<\/a> in a New York district court, urging the judge to lift a restraining notice that currently prevents the Arbitrum DAO from accessing the frozen Ethereum.<\/p>\n

If the court does not expedite the process, Aave’s legal representation seeks to compel the law firm responsible for the notice \u2014 Gerstein Harrow LLP \u2014 to provide a $300 million bond that would keep the freeze intact. As of now, no hearing date has been established, and a judge has yet to issue a ruling.<\/p>\n

\n

Aave LLC has filed an emergency motion to vacate a restraining notice served on Arbitrum DAO on May 1, 2026 that attempts to seize approximately $71 million in ETH belonging to victims of the April 18 exploit.<\/p>\n

A thief does not gain lawful ownership of stolen property simply by\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/NwgKIdU1L7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Aave (@aave) May 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The restraining notice<\/a> was issued by Gerstein Harrow on May 1, 2026. The firm claims that its clients hold over $877 million in judgments against North Korea, asserting that the hackers responsible for the Kelp exploit were operatives from the country. Based on this assertion, they argue they have a rightful claim to the frozen Ethereum assets.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Aave’s legal team has strongly countered this claim, arguing that a thief does not gain ownership of stolen property merely by possessing it. Furthermore, they have challenged Gerstein Harrow’s assertion that North Korea was involved in the hack, stating that it is based on weak evidence from internet posts and lacks substantive proof.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Impact on Victims and Ongoing Votes<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Kelp DAO hack resulted in estimated losses of around $292 million and has led to significant discussions within the Arbitrum DAO about the potential release of the frozen Ethereum. In efforts to support victims, a proposal is under consideration to allocate these funds to DeFi United, an initiative aimed at compensating holders of rsETH and restoring its backing. This vote will close on May 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The timing of Gerstein Harrow’s restraining notice has complicated matters, creating a legal stalemate for the Arbitrum DAO that prevents any movement of the funds while the legal situation is clarified. Reports indicate that this situation places the DAO in a challenging position, as it risks legal ramifications if funds are moved, even while community decisions are underway.<\/p>\n

Aave has argued that the continued freezing of these assets could lead to greater financial harm, stressing that users who relied on these frozen funds as collateral may struggle to meet their obligations on different platforms while their Ethereum remains locked. According to court filings, Aave has cautioned that prolonged restrictions could destabilize the entire DeFi market, impacting not just those affected by the Kelp hack.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Previous Legal Actions Related to North Korean Hacks<\/span><\/h2>\n

This case is not the first instance of Gerstein Harrow pursuing legal action in connection with North Korean hacking incidents. The firm has made similar claims regarding the assets from the Heco Bridge hack in 2023 and the Bybit exploit in 2025, consistently arguing that funds tied to North Korean hackers<\/a> should be allocated to their clients rather than to affected parties.<\/p>\n

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A legal dispute is unfolding over a significant sum of 30,766 Ethereum, which has been frozen following the Kelp DAO hack that occurred on April 18, 2026. Central to this case is a demand for a $300 million bond, with a New York court set to determine whether these funds should remain inaccessible or be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":57525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"Aave Requests Lift of Restraining Notice in Ethereum Dispute - Bitrabo","description":"A legal dispute is unfolding over a significant sum of 30,766 Ethereum, which has been frozen following the Kelp DAO hack that occurred on April 18, 2026. Centr"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[7830,1514,768,1556,4631,9318,2014,1554,966],"class_list":["post-57524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crypto-news","tag-aave","tag-battle","tag-ethereum","tag-freeze","tag-intensifies","tag-lift","tag-notice","tag-restraining","tag-seeks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57526,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57524\/revisions\/57526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitrabo.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}