Aave fights court order freezing $73M in recovered ETH — 'a thief does not own what he steals'

Aave LLC filed an emergency motion in federal court seeking to lift a May 1 restraining order that froze roughly $73 million in ether recovered after last month's Kelp DAO exploit. The freeze was triggered by plaintiffs holding years-old terrorism judgments against North Korea, who are attempting to claim the funds as restitution — a move Aave argues rests on unproven speculation that the Lazarus Group carried out the April 18 attack.

Founder Stani Kulechov framed the legal position plainly: temporary possession of stolen assets does not confer ownership. The filing states the immobilized ETH belongs to Aave protocol users, not any alleged wrongdoer. Aave is asking the court to vacate the notice outright, or require plaintiffs to post a bond of at least $300 million to cover potential damages if the freeze holds.

The broader recovery effort has since grown into 'DeFi United,' an…