NewsBTC •
April 23, 2026 at 14:20 •
Analysis
DeFi is having one of its most difficult weeks in recent memory. What started as a single exploit on April 19 has since cascaded into a system-wide liquidity shock that has rattled confidence across the ecosystem and raised questions that go well beyond the incident itself. Related Reading: Another $142M Staked – Bitmine Tightens Its Grip on Ethereum Supply The event began at Kelp DAO, where an attacker identified and exploited a critical flaw in the protocol’s collateral system. To understand what happened, it helps to understand what rsETH is supposed to be. Under normal conditions, rsETH is minted when a user deposits ETH as staking collateral — it functions as a receipt, backed 1-to-1 by the underlying asset. The design is straightforward: deposit real ETH, recei...