Verify a decision

{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"186066c7-fdf8-4d1c-9560-49ffb3278cf4","kind":"publish","page_slug":"bryan-pellegrino-layerzero-ceo","published_at":"2026-09-26T17:07:19.463Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Bryan Pellegrino (LayerZero CEO)","sections":[{"content":"On April 18, 2026, an attacker drained 116,500 rsETH (then worth approximately $292 million) from KelpDAO's LayerZero-powered cross-chain bridge, in what was described as the largest DeFi exploit of 2026. According to Chainalysis and CoinDesk reporting, the attacker did not exploit a smart-contract bug; instead, they compromised the RPC infrastructure supporting KelpDAO's Decentralized Verifier Network (DVN) — the single verifier responsible for confirming cross-chain messages under a '1-of-1' configuration — replacing node software with malicious versions and knocking out remaining nodes via DDoS, enabling a forged message that released tokens to an attacker-controlled address. The attack cascaded into DeFi lending markets: roughly 89,567 rsETH had been deposited on Aave as collateral, and Aave, SparkLend, Fluid and Upshift all froze rsETH markets within hours. LayerZero and security firms later attributed the attack to North Korea's Lazarus Group, specifically the TraderTraitor sub-group, and said stolen-fund tracing linked initial exploit financing to a wallet historically tied to a Lazarus-linked money launderer.","heading":"The April 2026 rsETH Bridge Exploit","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Chainalysis — Inside the KelpDAO Bridge Exploit","type":"research","url":"https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/kelpdao-bridge-exploit-april-2026/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — Kelp DAO exploited for $292 million with wrapped ether stranded across 20 chains","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/04/19/2026-s-biggest-crypto-exploit-kelp-dao-hit-for-usd292-million-with-wrapped-ether-stranded-across-20-chains"},{"credibility":2,"name":"KuCoin — KelpDAO rsETH Exploit: How the $292M LayerZero Bridge Attack Created $177M Bad Debt on Aave","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.kucoin.com/blog/vn-kelpdao-rseth-exploit-how-292m-layerzero-bridge-attack-created-177m-bad-debt-on-aave"},{"credibility":2,"name":"cryptobriefing — LayerZero says North Korean Lazarus Group behind $292M Kelp DAO attack","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/kelpdao-exploit-layers-of-compromise/"}]},{"content":"In the days after the exploit, LayerZero's initial post-mortem stated the protocol had 'functioned exactly as intended' and characterized KelpDAO's 1-of-1 verifier setup as a configuration chosen 'despite expressing recommendations to configure multi-DVN redundancy,' effectively placing responsibility on KelpDAO. KelpDAO publicly disputed this characterization on April 20, 2026, stating that 'the 1-of-1 DVN setup at the center of the incident reflects LayerZero's documented default configuration,' and outside commentators — including a security researcher known as Banteg and a Chainlink product manager — noted that LayerZero's reference deployment shipped with single-verifier defaults and characterized LayerZero's framing as deflecting responsibility. On May 5, 2026, KelpDAO escalated its account, alleging LayerZero personnel had approved its 1-of-1 setup over roughly two and a half years across multiple integration discussions without warning of risk, citing an (independently unauthenticated) Telegram screenshot in which a LayerZero team member reportedly wrote 'No problem on using defaults either,' as well as LayerZero's own OFT Quickstart documentation and GitHub examples defaulting to a single DVN. LayerZero responded at the time that its protocol defaults use multi-DVN configurations and that KelpDAO had 'deployed multiDVN and then manually downgraded to a 1/1.' On May 9, 2026, LayerZero reversed its posture, issuing a public apology stating 'We've done a terrible job on comms over the past three weeks' and admitting 'We made a mistake by allowing our DVN to act as a 1/1 DVN for high-value transactions' and 'We didn't police what our DVN was securing, which created a risk we simply didn't see.' LayerZero subsequently disabled 1-of-1 DVN configurations for high-value transactions across its network. Because LayerZero's own account changed materially over a three-week period — from blaming KelpDAO's configuration to admitting its own defaults enabled the exploit — the underlying facts of who authorized the setup remain genuinely disputed and are now the subject of litigation; claims from both KelpDAO/Evercrest and LayerZero should be treated as allegations pending judicial resolution.","heading":"Dispute Over the Single-Verifier Configuration and LayerZero's Shifting Account","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — LayerZero blames Kelp's setup for $290 million exploit, attributes it to North Korea's Lazarus","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/04/20/layerzero-blames-kelp-s-setup-for-usd290-million-exploit-attributes-it-to-north-korea-s-lazarus"},{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — Kelp DAO claims LayerZero's default settings are what actually caused the $290 million disaster","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/04/20/kelp-dao-claims-layerzero-s-default-settings-are-what-actually-caused-the-usd290-million-disaster"},{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — Kelp claims that LayerZero approved the setup it blamed for $292 million bridge hack","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2026/05/05/kelp-claims-that-layerzero-approved-the-setup-it-blamed-for-usd292-million-bridge-hack"},{"credibility":1,"name":"The Block — LayerZero issues public apology for Kelp DAO exploit response, admits fault in single-verifier setup","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/400629/layerzero-issues-public-apology-for-kelp-dao-exploit-response-admits-fault-in-single-verifier-setup"},{"credibility":2,"name":"OpenZeppelin — Lessons From the rsETH Bridge Exploit","type":"research","url":"https://www.openzeppelin.com/news/lessons-from-kelpdao-hack"}]},{"content":"On or around September 24, 2026, Evercrest Technologies Inc., the company that operates KelpDAO, filed a notice of civil claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against LayerZero Labs Ltd., LayerZero Labs Canada Inc., and Bryan Pellegrino individually. The claim alleges negligent misrepresentation, negligence, and defamation. According to reporting on the filing, Evercrest alleges that LayerZero — through Pellegrino and other personnel — reviewed and endorsed in writing KelpDAO's deployment and configuration of LayerZero's technology, including the 1-of-1 verifier setup later exploited, and that LayerZero warned a different protocol developer, USDT0, about similar configuration risks while giving no comparable warning to KelpDAO. The defamation count centers on Evercrest's allegation that after the exploit, LayerZero and Pellegrino publicly blamed KelpDAO's configuration choices — including language from LayerZero's post-mortem stating KelpDAO's setup 'directly contradicts' the multi-DVN model LayerZero promotes — which Evercrest characterizes as false and reputationally damaging given LayerZero's own alleged prior endorsement of that same setup. The claim reportedly seeks aggravated and punitive damages, citing more than $650 million in user withdrawals from KelpDAO-related products following the exploit and losses tied to a decline in the KERNEL token. Pellegrino responded publicly on X, stating 'Evercrest (KelpDAO) filed a notice of civil claim today in BC (British Columbia, Canada) against myself and LZ (LayerZero)' and separately, 'The claim continues to be meritless. I will meet them in Vancouver and defend myself accordingly.' As of this writing, no statement of defense has been reported, and the allegations in the civil claim are unproven.","heading":"Evercrest v. LayerZero: Civil Claim Naming Pellegrino Personally","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — KelpDAO sues LayerZero for the largest exploit 2026 has seen so far","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/09/25/kelpdao-sues-layerzero-for-the-largest-exploit-2026-has-seen-so-far"},{"credibility":1,"name":"The Block — KelpDAO sues LayerZero, claims it endorsed setup used in $292 million rsETH exploit","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-09-25-kelpdao-sues-layerzero-claims-it-endorsed-setup-used-in-292-million-rseth-exploit-416361"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Decrypt — KelpDAO Developer Sues LayerZero Over $292M Bridge Exploit","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/379288/kelpdao-developer-sues-layerzero-over-292m-bridge-exploit"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CryptoTimes — Evercrest (KelpDAO) Files Civil Claim Against LayerZero and CEO Bryan Pellegrino","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/09/25/kelpdao-sues-layerzero-and-ceo-bryan-pellegrino-in-canada-over-292m-rseth-exploit/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CryptoPotato — KelpDAO Sues LayerZero and CEO Bryan Pellegrino Over $292M Hack","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptopotato.com/kelpdao-sues-layerzero-and-ceo-bryan-pellegrino-over-292m-hack/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Cryptopolitan — LayerZero faces a negligence and defamation suit over the $292 million KelpDAO hack","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/layerzero-negligence-defamation-suit-kelpdao/"}]},{"content":"Bryan Pellegrino is co-founder and CEO of LayerZero Labs, an interoperability protocol that provides cross-chain messaging infrastructure used by bridges and applications across more than 70 blockchains. Before LayerZero, Pellegrino played poker professionally for roughly eight years and later co-founded Coder Den, a mobile app development company, with future LayerZero co-founder Caleb Banister; he and co-founders Ryan Zarick and Banister met through computer network research at the University of New Hampshire. LayerZero raised over $173 million from investors including Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, including a $120 million Series B in April 2023 at a reported $3 billion valuation, and launched its ZRO governance token in mid-2024. As of September 2026, ZRO's market capitalization is roughly $370–590 million (reports vary by source), down sharply from its December 2024 all-time high, and LayerZero ranks among the top bridge protocols by total value locked per DefiLlama. In 2024, LayerZero's ZRO airdrop drew scrutiny after the company said it identified roughly 800,000 sybil (fake/farmed) addresses attempting to claim tokens; Pellegrino briefly paused a crowdsourced 'bounty hunter' reporting process after it generated thousands of reports and tens of thousands of appeals, some of which were used to try to suppress legitimate reports. This episode reflects operational and governance friction in LayerZero's token distribution but is a separate matter from the rsETH exploit and lawsuit described above.","heading":"Background: Bryan Pellegrino and LayerZero Labs","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Sequoia Capital — LayerZero's Bryan Pellegrino: From Poker to Protocols","type":"other","url":"https://sequoiacap.com/article/bryan-pellegrino-spotlight-layerzero"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The Block — Notable Crypto Personalities: Bryan Pellegrino","type":"other","url":"https://www.theblock.co/profile/293295/bryan-pellegrino"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Forbes — Crypto CEO: The Traditional Way Of Moving Assets Across Blockchains Is A 'Horrible Construct'","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/2023/05/03/crypto-ceothe-traditional-way-of-moving-assets-across-blockchains-is-a-horrible-construct/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"The Block — LayerZero Labs CEO announces pause of Sybil 'bounty-hunter' process after influx of reports","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/news/defi/2024-05-19-layerzero-labs-ceo-announces-pause-of-sybil-bounty-hunter-process-after-influx-of-reports-295274"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DL News — LayerZero warns sybil airdrop farmers to self-report or 'receive nothing'","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.dlnews.com/articles/defi/layerzero-warns-sybil-airdrop-farmers-to-self-report/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DefiLlama — LayerZero TVL, Fees & Revenue","type":"on_chain","url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/layerzero"}]},{"content":"LayerZero and outside investigators attributed the rsETH exploit to North Korea's Lazarus Group, specifically its TraderTraitor sub-group, based on infrastructure and fund-movement analysis. Reporting indicated that a portion of the exploit's initial funding was traceable to a Bitcoin wallet with historical ties to a Chinese broker previously indicted in the U.S. for laundering Lazarus-linked crypto proceeds, and that stolen ETH was subsequently moved through further laundering channels, prompting exchange freezes (including roughly $71 million frozen on Arbitrum-related infrastructure) and law-enforcement engagement. This attribution, if accurate, would mean the underlying theft was carried out by a sanctioned state-linked actor rather than being an inside job or contract bug — a point LayerZero has emphasized in its public communications, though it does not resolve the separate dispute over whether LayerZero's own configuration guidance created the vulnerability that Lazarus exploited.","heading":"Attribution to North Korea's Lazarus Group","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"UPI — North Korean hackers tied to $290M crypto heist, firm says","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/04/22/KelpDAO-LayerZero-North-Korea-crypto-hack-theft-Lazarus-Group/6151776848419/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"news.Bitcoin.com — Lazarus Group Suspected of Moving $175M in ETH After Arbitrum Freezes $71M From KelpDAO Exploit","type":"news_article","url":"https://news.bitcoin.com/lazarus-group-suspected-of-moving-175m-in-eth-after-arbitrum-freezes-71m-from-kelpdao-exploit/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Chainalysis — Inside the KelpDAO Bridge Exploit","type":"research","url":"https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/kelpdao-bridge-exploit-april-2026/"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Chainalysis — Inside the KelpDAO Bridge Exploit","type":"research","url":"https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/kelpdao-bridge-exploit-april-2026/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — Kelp DAO exploited for $292 million with wrapped ether stranded across 20 chains","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/04/19/2026-s-biggest-crypto-exploit-kelp-dao-hit-for-usd292-million-with-wrapped-ether-stranded-across-20-chains"},{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — LayerZero blames Kelp's setup for $290 million exploit, attributes it to North Korea's Lazarus","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/04/20/layerzero-blames-kelp-s-setup-for-usd290-million-exploit-attributes-it-to-north-korea-s-lazarus"},{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — Kelp DAO claims LayerZero's default settings are what actually caused the $290 million disaster","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/04/20/kelp-dao-claims-layerzero-s-default-settings-are-what-actually-caused-the-usd290-million-disaster"},{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — Kelp claims that LayerZero approved the setup it blamed for $292 million bridge hack","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2026/05/05/kelp-claims-that-layerzero-approved-the-setup-it-blamed-for-usd292-million-bridge-hack"},{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — Aave overhauls listing standards after $230 million rsETH exploit exposed bridge risks","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/06/01/aave-overhauls-listing-standards-after-usd230-million-rseth-exploit-exposed-bridge-risks"},{"credibility":1,"name":"CoinDesk — KelpDAO sues LayerZero for the largest exploit 2026 has seen so far","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/09/25/kelpdao-sues-layerzero-for-the-largest-exploit-2026-has-seen-so-far"},{"credibility":1,"name":"The Block — LayerZero issues public apology for Kelp DAO exploit response, admits fault in single-verifier setup","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/400629/layerzero-issues-public-apology-for-kelp-dao-exploit-response-admits-fault-in-single-verifier-setup"},{"credibility":1,"name":"The Block — KelpDAO sues LayerZero, claims it endorsed setup used in $292 million rsETH exploit","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-09-25-kelpdao-sues-layerzero-claims-it-endorsed-setup-used-in-292-million-rseth-exploit-416361"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Decrypt — KelpDAO Developer Sues LayerZero Over $292M Bridge Exploit","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/379288/kelpdao-developer-sues-layerzero-over-292m-bridge-exploit"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CryptoTimes — Evercrest (KelpDAO) Files Civil Claim Against LayerZero and CEO Bryan Pellegrino","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/09/25/kelpdao-sues-layerzero-and-ceo-bryan-pellegrino-in-canada-over-292m-rseth-exploit/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CryptoPotato — KelpDAO Sues LayerZero and CEO Bryan Pellegrino Over $292M Hack","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptopotato.com/kelpdao-sues-layerzero-and-ceo-bryan-pellegrino-over-292m-hack/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Cryptopolitan — LayerZero faces a negligence and defamation suit over the $292 million KelpDAO hack","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/layerzero-negligence-defamation-suit-kelpdao/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"KuCoin — KelpDAO rsETH Exploit: How the $292M LayerZero Bridge Attack Created $177M Bad Debt on Aave","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.kucoin.com/blog/vn-kelpdao-rseth-exploit-how-292m-layerzero-bridge-attack-created-177m-bad-debt-on-aave"},{"credibility":2,"name":"cryptobriefing — LayerZero says North Korean Lazarus Group behind $292M Kelp DAO attack","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/kelpdao-exploit-layers-of-compromise/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"OpenZeppelin — Lessons From the rsETH Bridge Exploit","type":"research","url":"https://www.openzeppelin.com/news/lessons-from-kelpdao-hack"},{"credibility":1,"name":"UPI — North Korean hackers tied to $290M crypto heist, firm says","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/04/22/KelpDAO-LayerZero-North-Korea-crypto-hack-theft-Lazarus-Group/6151776848419/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"news.Bitcoin.com — Lazarus Group Suspected of Moving $175M in ETH After Arbitrum Freezes $71M From KelpDAO Exploit","type":"news_article","url":"https://news.bitcoin.com/lazarus-group-suspected-of-moving-175m-in-eth-after-arbitrum-freezes-71m-from-kelpdao-exploit/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Sequoia Capital — LayerZero's Bryan Pellegrino: From Poker to Protocols","type":"other","url":"https://sequoiacap.com/article/bryan-pellegrino-spotlight-layerzero"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The Block — Notable Crypto Personalities: Bryan Pellegrino","type":"other","url":"https://www.theblock.co/profile/293295/bryan-pellegrino"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Forbes — Crypto CEO: The Traditional Way Of Moving Assets Across Blockchains Is A 'Horrible Construct'","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/2023/05/03/crypto-ceothe-traditional-way-of-moving-assets-across-blockchains-is-a-horrible-construct/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"The Block — LayerZero Labs CEO announces pause of Sybil 'bounty-hunter' process after influx of reports","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/news/defi/2024-05-19-layerzero-labs-ceo-announces-pause-of-sybil-bounty-hunter-process-after-influx-of-reports-295274"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DL News — LayerZero warns sybil airdrop farmers to self-report or 'receive nothing'","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.dlnews.com/articles/defi/layerzero-warns-sybil-airdrop-farmers-to-self-report/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DefiLlama — LayerZero TVL, Fees & Revenue","type":"on_chain","url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/layerzero"}],"summary":"Bryan Pellegrino is co-founder and CEO of LayerZero Labs, the cross-chain messaging protocol underlying bridges across 70+ blockchains. Following an April 2026 exploit that drained $292 million in rsETH from KelpDAO's LayerZero-based bridge, KelpDAO's operating company, Evercrest Technologies, filed a civil claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia naming Pellegrino personally alongside LayerZero, alleging negligent misrepresentation, negligence, and defamation. LayerZero has since publicly admitted fault in permitting the single-verifier configuration involved in the exploit, while Pellegrino has called the lawsuit meritless and said he will contest it in court.","timeline":[{"date":"2026-04","date_evidence":"The attacker drained 116,500 rsETH (restaked ether) from Kelp DAO's LayerZero-powered bridge at 17:35 UTC on Saturday","date_original":"2026-04-18","event":"Attacker drains 116,500 rsETH (~$292 million) from KelpDAO's LayerZero-based bridge by compromising RPC infrastructure behind its single (1-of-1) verifier.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/04/19/2026-s-biggest-crypto-exploit-kelp-dao-hit-for-usd292-million-with-wrapped-ether-stranded-across-20-chains"},{"date":"2026-04","date_original":"2026-04-20","event":"LayerZero's initial post-mortem says its protocol 'functioned exactly as intended' and attributes the exploit to KelpDAO's configuration choice; KelpDAO publicly disputes this, saying the 1-of-1 setup reflected LayerZero's documented default.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/04/20/kelp-dao-claims-layerzero-s-default-settings-are-what-actually-caused-the-usd290-million-disaster"},{"date":"2026-04","event":"LayerZero attributes the exploit to North Korea's Lazarus Group (TraderTraitor sub-group); stolen funds are traced and partially frozen across chains.","source":"UPI / Chainalysis","source_url":"https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/04/22/KelpDAO-LayerZero-North-Korea-crypto-hack-theft-Lazarus-Group/6151776848419/"},{"date":"2026-05","date_original":"2026-05-05","event":"KelpDAO alleges LayerZero personnel approved its 1-of-1 verifier setup over roughly 2.5 years of integration discussions, citing an unauthenticated Telegram screenshot and LayerZero's own default documentation; LayerZero says KelpDAO manually downgraded from a multi-DVN deployment.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2026/05/05/kelp-claims-that-layerzero-approved-the-setup-it-blamed-for-usd292-million-bridge-hack"},{"date":"2026-05-09","date_evidence":"Publication Date: May 9, 2026 ... Apology Blog Post Date: \"Friday\" (May 9, 2026)","event":"LayerZero issues a public apology, admitting 'we made a mistake by allowing our DVN to act as a 1/1 DVN for high-value transactions,' and disables 1-of-1 DVN configurations network-wide.","source":"The Block","source_url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/400629/layerzero-issues-public-apology-for-kelp-dao-exploit-response-admits-fault-in-single-verifier-setup"},{"date":"2026-06","date_original":"2026-06-01","event":"Aave overhauls its asset-listing standards following the rsETH exploit's exposure of cross-chain bridge risk.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/06/01/aave-overhauls-listing-standards-after-usd230-million-rseth-exploit-exposed-bridge-risks"},{"date":"2026-09-24","date_evidence":"Evercrest Technologies Inc., the company that operates the liquid restaking protocol KelpDAO, filed a civil lawsuit in British Columbia, Canada, on September 24, 2026, against LayerZero Labs Ltd.","event":"Evercrest Technologies Inc. files a notice of civil claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against LayerZero Labs Ltd., LayerZero Labs Canada Inc., and Bryan Pellegrino personally, alleging negligent misrepresentation, negligence, and defamation.","source":"CryptoTimes / The Block","source_url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/09/25/kelpdao-sues-layerzero-and-ceo-bryan-pellegrino-in-canada-over-292m-rseth-exploit/"},{"date":"2026-09","date_original":"2026-09-25","event":"Pellegrino publicly responds on X, calling the claim 'meritless' and stating he will defend himself and LayerZero in a British Columbia court.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/09/25/kelpdao-sues-layerzero-for-the-largest-exploit-2026-has-seen-so-far"}]},"v":1}