Aave Weathered $8.45B Withdrawal Surge Amid RsETH Bridge Exploit

Aave, one of crypto's biggest lending platforms, survived $8.45 billion in withdrawals after an rsETH bridge exploit raised concerns across DeFi markets.

The incident began with a KelpDAO rsETH bridge exploit in April 2026, where attackers stole about $292 million worth of rsETH from KelpDAO's LayerZero bridge, raising concerns that some rsETH tokens were not fully backed.

This led to a direct problem for Aave, as collateral tied to rsETH lost trust or value, putting lenders at risk of bad-debt. Users began withdrawing funds to reduce their exposure before conditions worsened.

Aave's founder, Stani Kulechov, framed the incident as evidence of Aave's resilience, stating that the core protocol worked as designed during a period of heavy stress.