US court freezes $71M in ETH linked to North Korea hack amid terrorism claims

A US court has frozen 30,766 ETH (about $71.1 million) held by Arbitrum DAO, linked to the $292 million Kelp DAO hack attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group. Families with unpaid terrorism judgments against North Korea filed claims, arguing the frozen ETH is North Korean property under US laws allowing seizure of assets tied to state sponsors of terrorism. This legal move disrupts a major DeFi recovery effort involving multiple contributors and will be resolved in a divestiture hearing. The case highlights tensions between decentralized governance and US legal jurisdiction.