Since the KelpDAO attack incident, the DeFi TVL has decreased by about 14%

According to The Block, since the KelpDAO cross-chain bridge attack in mid-April, the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi has decreased by about 14%, from approximately $172 billion to $148 billion. The attackers exploited vulnerabilities in off-chain infrastructure rather than smart contract vulnerabilities, stealing about $292 million and exposing new infrastructure risks.

The outflow of funds has continued for more than five weeks, indicating that investors are broadly withdrawing marginal capital rather than just targeting specific protocols that were attacked. Lending, as the largest DeFi category, saw its locked amount decrease from about $53 billion to $40 billion, marking the largest decline. Liquidity re-staking protocols also experienced significant drops. The KelpDAO attack indicates that as the security of smart contracts improves, off-chain infrastructure is becoming a more easily exploitable attack surface.