US Firm Seeks to Freeze Arbitrum’s $73M ETH in Kelp Case

U.S. law firm Gerstein Harrow has filed a restraining notice seeking to prevent Arbitrum DAO from returning 30,766 ETH, worth about $73 million, that was frozen after the Kelp DAO exploit. The firm argues the stolen funds are linked to North Korea-backed hackers and should be classified as DPRK-related assets under existing sanctions and judgments. It further claims the ETH should be redirected to satisfy outstanding court rulings, where its clients are still owed more than $877 million from prior cases involving North Korea, turning the case into a broader dispute over crypto seizure, attribution, and cross-border debt enforcement.