An OTC whale has recently experienced notable losses due to the market uncertainty amid the exploit of the DeFi protocol KelpDAO. Particularly, the whale has incurred a $540K loss as a result of the KelpDAO $rsETH bridge hack. As per the data from Lookonchain, the exploit influenced the withdrawal flows to a significant extent. Thus, the whale witnessed huge losses in an attempt to rebalance their positions.
The OTC whale who previously bought 163,405 $ETH ($440M) and 4,000 $cbBTC ($296M) has withdrawn 98,032 $wstETH ($272M) and 3,000 $cbBTC ($221.6M) from #Aave .
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 20, 2026
Affected by the KelpDAO rsETH bridge exploit, he was unable to withdraw $ETH , so he directly swapped 7,438 aEthWETH($16.83M)… pic.twitter.com/77bWkauH9V
OTC Whale Shifts Strategy Amid KelpDAO $rsETH Bridge Hack, Losing $540K
In line with the on-chain data, the OTC whale has gone through a $540K loss following the KelpDAO $rsETH bridge exploit. In this respect, the whale acquired 163,405 $ETH coins, equaling a total amount of $440M. At the same time, the whale also purchased 4,000 $cbBTC, equaling $296M. However, the Kelp exploit forced the whale to modify the strategy.
Previously, the whale had extracted 98,032 $wstETH, accounting for $272M, and 3,000 $cbBTC, with a value of $221.6M from Aave. Based on the data, the whale’s fund withdrawals stood among the biggest recorded over the past few hours, signifying the level of institutional-scale movements. However, because of the exploit, the OTC whale was unable to withdraw $ETH because of the exploit.
Whale Still Keeps $10K $ETH on Aave After Setback
According to Lookonchain , this led the whale to move toward a workaround. So, the whale swapped 7,438 $aEthWETH, equaling $16.83M, into 5,272 $ETH and 1,930 $stETH. Nevertheless, the respective maneuver incurred the whale substantial losses.
The swapping event incurred 237 $ETH in losses, accounting for almost $540,000. Nevertheless, irrespective of the setback, the whale now maintains up to 10,000 $ETH on Aave, equaling $22.8M. Overall, such significant moves can have a ripple effect across diverse liquidity pools, impacting the trader sentiment and token prices.