The lending protocol Aave has restored collateral parameters for wETH across six networks. This marks the next phase in addressing the aftermath of the April Kelp hack.
The next step in the rsETH technical recovery plan has been completed with the restoration of WETH LTVs to their pre-incident levels across all affected networks. Users can now once again borrow against WETH on Aave, including through collateral and debt swaps. https://t.co/6BzxUtu3Ci
— Stani (@StaniKulechov) May 17, 2026
Developers have reverted the loan-to-value (LTV) ratios to previous levels in the Ethereum (Core and Prime), Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, and Linea networks. Users can once again borrow against wETH and utilize collateral and debt swap features.
Restrictions were implemented after attackers exploited a vulnerability in the rsETH bridge from Kelp. The hackers managed to mint unsecured tokens worth $292 million and withdraw approximately $230 million in ETH from Aave's pools. As an emergency measure, the protocol set the LTV for wETH to zero, effectively prohibiting its use as collateral.
According to governance documents, the LTV ratios have returned to the following levels:
- Ethereum Core — 80.5%;
- Ethereum Prime — 84%;
- Arbitrum, Base, and Linea — 80%;
- Mantle — 80.5%.
According to the team, nearly 107,000 of the 112,103 rsETH created during the attack have been recovered through liquidations in Aave and Compound. The remaining deficit of 5,200 rsETH is expected to be covered by the industry coalition DeFi United.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov described the update as a significant step towards the technical recovery of the system. wETH is a key asset in decentralized finance. Lifting the restrictions should restore liquidity and give users access to leveraged strategies.
As a reminder, in May, Aave liquidated the remaining positions of the Kelp hacker concerning rsETH as part of an approved recovery plan.
Later, representatives from Kelp and Aave announced their intention to return 117,132 rsETH within two weeks.