A wallet identified by onchain analysts as linked to Justin Sun withdrew 274 million USDT from Aave within 21 minutes of the protocol freezing its rsETH markets on April 18. According to Wu Blockchain, Aave paused rsETH and wrsETH markets at 18:52 UTC. The HTX Recovery address — an account associated with Sun's exchange HTX — executed the withdrawal between 19:12 and 19:17 UTC, a five-minute window that researchers say suggests pre-staged transactions or automated triggers.
KelpDAO Exploit Triggered Market Halt
The rsETH market freeze was a direct response to the KelpDAO hack, where an attacker drained approximately $292 million via a Layerzero bridge vulnerability. Stolen rsETH was used as collateral on Aave to borrow Ether, forcing the protocol to freeze affected markets as a containment measure. The HTX Recovery wallet's exit occurred just 21 minutes after the freeze, though it remains unclear whether the move was a reaction to the exploit, a response to the freeze notification, or routine risk management.
Whales Pulled $5.4B+ From Aave in 24 Hours
The panic spread quickly. Data from Wu Blockchain and Lookonchain show that whales withdrew more than $5.4 billion from Aave in the 24 hours following the exploit, pushing the protocol's ETH utilization rate to 100% and trapping remaining depositor funds. Sun's $274M withdrawal stood as one of the largest single exits during that window.
Sun's History of Swift DeFi Moves
This is not the first time Sun-associated wallets have shifted large positions under market stress. In March 2023, wallets attributed to him moved significant USDC and DAI holdings off Aave during the Silicon Valley Bank depegging event, drawing community scrutiny. Sun has not publicly commented on the latest withdrawal. Onchain analysts note that the 21-minute gap raises questions about how DeFi protocols monitor large positions in real time.
Aave's risk service provider Llamarisk has since published a formal incident report detailing potential bad-debt scenarios for rsETH depositors. No compensation or parameter adjustments have been announced as of press time.