LayerZero Commits 10,000 ETH to DeFi United Initiative

LayerZero joins DeFi United, pledging 10,000 ETH (~$23M) to the initiative.

The omnichain protocol LayerZero has joined the DeFi United initiative. The project will donate a total of 10,000 ETH (~$23 million). 

LayerZero Labs is pledging more than 10,000 ETH to @Aave-led DeFi United efforts. We are:

• Donating 5,000 ETH to DeFi United
• Depositing an additional 5,000 ETH to strengthen Aave markets liquidity
• Strategically deepening GHO liquidity https://t.co/LbxDT8mkCq

— LayerZero (@LayerZero_Core) April 28, 2026

Of the allocated amount, 5,000 ETH will go to the ecosystem recovery fund, and another 5,000 ETH will be reserved for Aave. 

The LayerZero team also announced plans to increase the liquidity of GHO, a stablecoin from the leading lending platform. TokenLogic has raised the borrowing cap for the “stablecoin” from 100 million to 125 million.

We raised the $GHO borrow cap on the @aave Ethereum Core V3 Market from 100M to 125M.

Enjoy a fixed 3.5% borrow rate. pic.twitter.com/nI7tAqYeqG

— TokenLogic (@Token_Logic) April 28, 2026

However, the donation did not find support within the community. The criticism stemmed from LayerZero’s response to the Kelp attack, with users pointing to the configuration of DVN LayerZero Labs as a potential cause of the breach.

Some deemed the contribution too modest and criticized the developers for their slow response. 

Only 5,000 ETH when you were the CAUSE of this exploit?

This might actually be criminal.

— LIMITLΞSS 🐺👑 (@goodguyaugust) April 28, 2026

“Only 5,000 ETH, considering you were the cause of the exploit?” wrote one user. 

Others called for disconnecting applications from LayerZero’s infrastructure, deeming it unsafe. 

“Sold all ZRO tokens, even taking a 70% loss. I have no faith left in your project. You guys are just pretending,” remarked a user named Rajmani. 

Achievements of DeFi United

Nonetheless, LayerZero’s donation became one of the largest within DeFi United. As of April 29, the initiative had attracted over 137,000 ETH (~$320 million), surpassing the $290 million damage from the hack.

Recently, ConsenSys and its founder Joseph Lubin joined the fundraising, contributing 30,000 ETH. 

The DeFi platform Compound has promised to transfer up to 3,000 ETH, with the proposal awaiting community approval. 

Puffer Finance also allocated treasury capital to support Aave. 

DeFi is built on resilience.

Puffer has deployed treasury capital in support of @aave DeFi United.

As a security-first liquid staking protocol, we believe strong infrastructure and aligned incentives are what sustain DeFi through moments like this.

We believe DeFi is a core…

— Puffer Finance 🐡 (@puffer_finance) April 28, 2026

Back in the discussions about the Kelp hack, Curve founder Mikhail Egorov proposed a debt tokenization mechanism.