Overview
- Evercrest Technologies, KelpDAO’s developer, filed a notice of civil claim in British Columbia on Thursday seeking relief from LayerZero Labs, its Canadian unit, and co‑founder Bryan Pellegrino.
- Investigations show attackers first gained access to a LayerZero developer on March 6 and then poisoned LayerZero‑operated RPC nodes so the verifier signed a forged message that caused 116,500 rsETH to be released in April.
- The dispute in court centers on whether LayerZero approved a risky single‑verifier (1‑of‑1) Decentralized Verifier Network setup in writing or whether Kelp chose that configuration, with LayerZero now banning single‑verifier use for high‑value channels.
- Security firms and LayerZero have attributed the operation to TraderTraitor, a group tied to North Korea’s Lazarus, and the exploit forced emergency moves across DeFi including Aave borrowing and large drops in total value locked.
- Evercrest’s claim pleads negligent misrepresentation, negligence and defamation, seeks aggravated and punitive damages for recapitalization and reputational harms, and the defendants have the standard response window under British Columbia civil rules.