A federal judge in Manhattan has authorized the transfer of about 30,766 Ethereum—worth roughly $71 million—from Arbitrum to a wallet controlled by Aave LLC. It marks a major procedural step in the recovery effort after the April 18 rsETH exploit tied to Kelp DAO’s liquid restaking protocol.
Until now, those Ethereum funds had been locked by a restraining notice after creditors holding terrorism judgments against North Korea tried to seize them. The court decision modifies that freeze: Arbitrum’s onchain transfer can go ahead, and those who initiate, vote on, or execute the move are protected from being treated as if they violated the order.
However, the court did not declare these assets completely free of dispute. Aave agreed to remain bound by the same restraining notice, so the terrorism creditors’ claims follow the ETH into the new wallet.
For users affected by the rsETH exploit, that means the assets can move into the recovery structure, but the legal fight is still active. Litigation over whether the funds can ultimately be claimed by creditors in the North Korea case has not been resolved, so even with the transfer approved, the ETH remains under a legal cloud.