LayerZero CEO Admits Protocol Failures After Kelp DAO Exploit, Pledges Security Overhaul

LayerZero Labs Co-Founder and CEO Bryan Pellegrino posted a public statement on X acknowledging that the protocol's failure to prevent or flag a 1/1 security configuration — the vulnerability exploited in the April 18 Kelp DAO attack — reflected a lapse in both product design and customer communication. Pellegrino said he had wrongly assumed no application would secure billions in TVL on such a configuration, and admitted the company further compounded the crisis by implementing RPC quorum changes without notifying affected clients. He credited Aave and DeFi United for leading recovery efforts, and said LayerZero Labs will now refocus entirely on serving asset issuers and the upcoming launch of Zero.