The DeFi<\/strong> sector is going through an unprecedented zone of turbulence. With over $606 million stolen in less than three weeks, April 2026 already eclipses the cumulative losses of the first quarter. This grim record is primarily fueled by two colossal attacks that targeted pillars of the ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On April 1st, Drift Protocol<\/strong>, the perpetual trading platform on Solana, suffered a massive hack<\/strong> resulting in the loss of $285 million. A few days later, the liquid restaking protocol KelpDAO<\/strong> was hit. An attacker exploited a flaw in the LayerZero bridge smart contract<\/strong>, siphoning nearly $292 million in rsETH tokens<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the impact of this attack was not limited to KelpDAO. By using their fake rsETH on major lending protocols, the hacker transferred the risk to the entire ecosystem. Aave<\/a><\/strong>, the lending giant, found itself with nearly $177 million in bad debt<\/strong> on its V3 version. To limit the damage, the platform had to urgently suspend its rsETH related markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reaction from investors was immediate and brutal. Fearing a domino effect, whales<\/strong> withdrew their funds en masse, triggering a historic correction<\/strong>. In just 48 hours, the overall DeFi TVL<\/strong> (Total Value Locked) plummeted by more than $13.2 billion. Aave saw nearly $8.4 billion<\/strong> evaporate from its vaults, marking a sudden halt for the protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n