Kelp DAO Restaked ETH
RSETH
Evaluation Score
Overall rating on a scale of 0-10
Dimension Breakdown
AI Analysis
Comprehensive evaluation of the token
RSETH (Kelp DAO Restaked ETH) receives an overall score of 2.8/10, driven down by severe systemic security breaches, impaired liquidity, and distressed community sentiment. On April 18-19, 2026, Kelp DAO suffered a catastrophic exploit attributed to the Lazarus Group, as noted in the Security analysis: "Attackers drained approximately 116,500 rsETH, worth roughly $292-293.7 million, from Kelp DAO's LayerZero-based bridge due to compromised RPC nodes and a vulnerable 1-of-1 verifier configuration." This qualifying red-flag event destabilized rsETH peg mechanics and left significant downstream bad debt across lending protocols such as Aave. While the known founding team managed emergency freezing and remediation workflows, active development remains in a maintenance-only state with minimal verifiable code activity, tokenomics retain structural upgradeability and centralization vulnerabilities via a 6/8 multisig, and trading volume remains critically thin relative to its ~$1 billion market capitalization.
Development Activity
Code updates and developer engagement
Community Support
Social media presence and community engagement
Tokenomics
Supply, distribution, and utility
Market & Use Case
Value proposition and competitive landscape
Team & Governance
Team background and project governance
Security & Audits
Security history and audit status
About Kelp DAO Restaked ETH (RSETH)
RSETH (Kelp DAO Restaked ETH) is a liquid restaked token (LRT) issued by Kelp DAO under the KernelDAO umbrella. The token functions as a liquid representation of ETH deposited and restaked via EigenLayer, designed to address native restaking illiquidity while accruing staking rewards. The project was founded by Amitej G and Dheeraj B, with governance partially handled through Snapshot voting and the KERNEL token, alongside a 6/8 multisig structure governing core contract upgrades and mint permissions.
The protocol has experienced multiple significant security breaches and systemic disruptions. In April 2025, Kelp paused deposits and withdrawals following a fee contract bug that resulted in excess rsETH minting. On April 18–19, 2026, the protocol suffered a major exploit attributed to the Lazarus Group, where compromised LayerZero DVN RPC nodes and a 1-of-1 verifier configuration allowed attackers to drain approximately 116,500 unbacked rsETH, valued between $292 million and $293.7 million. The incident broke rsETH peg mechanics, lowered bridge adapter backing ratios to 26.46% against Layer 2 claims, and resulted in estimated bad debt between $123.7 million and $230.1 million across decentralized lending platforms, prompting Aave to freeze rsETH markets.
Following the exploit, emergency interventions froze roughly 30,766 ETH (~$71 million) via the Arbitrum Security Council and law enforcement coordination, and the team executed a recovery plan to restore asset backing and reopen bridging and withdrawals. While RSETH maintains a market capitalization of around $1 billion and an active base of approximately 23,000 stakers, it faces thin daily trading volume relative to its size, distressed community sentiment, a lack of active code shipping, and a non-tradable status on Kraken.