DeFi United push hits $300M as Consensys and Joseph Lubin contribute 30,000 ETH

Widespread efforts to help cover the Kelp DAO exploit losses continued on Monday with Circle Ventures, Metamask developer Consensys and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin all pledging support. 

Referencing the coordinated effort known as DeFi United, Circle Ventures said in a post on social media it is purchasing AAVE tokens in an effort to alleviate the negative impacts caused by the recent exploit.

"Strong DeFi infrastructure does not build itself," the VC arm of the USDC stablecoin issuer said. "Aave is helping to shape the future of onchain finance, and we’re backing that ecosystem and the entire community built around it."

Together, Ethereum software company Consensys and the firm's founder Joseph Lubin have confirmed they will contribute 30,000 ETH, one of the largest offerings as part of the ongoing DeFi United effort. 

With the latest contributions, the DeFi United effort has now raised more than 132K ETH worth over $300 million. 

"Their contributions are a substantial component of the broader DeFi United effort to restore rsETH's backing and normalize market conditions, and the recovery would not be progressing as it is without them," Aave posted Monday, announcing Consensys and Lubin's offering. Consensys-backed Ethereum treasury firm Sharplink will also provide strategic advice, Aave said.

Contributions go towards closing the remaining shortfall caused when an attacker minted unbacked rsETH through a compromised LayerZero bridge and used it as collateral on Aave to borrow real assets, leaving the protocol with bad debt.

Last week, Aave service providers proposed contributing 25,000 ETH worth nearly $58 million from the protocol's DAO to DeFi United, which as of Monday had raised roughly $235 million worth of Ethereum.

Lido DAO and Ether.fi also proposed contributions of up to 2,500 ETH and 5,000 ETH, respectively, alongside other smaller or pending donations. Kelp has pledged 2,000 ETH.

Assuming all proposals pass, X user DCF GOD estimated last week the hole had already been filled. Dozens of unnamed individuals have also contributed smaller amounts of ETH and stablecoins.

Data from The Block shows that total value locked on DeFi protocols now sits at about $82 billion, down over 25% from the $110 billion seen at the start of the year.

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