- Cetus Suffers $260M Hack: Sui’s top DEX was exploited using fake tokens and liquidity manipulation, leading to massive losses across multiple assets.
- $6M Bounty Offered: Cetus has proposed a $6 million white-hat deal to recover 20,920 stolen ETH and frozen SUI funds, warning of legal action if ignored.
In a staggering blow to the Sui Network’s ecosystem, its largest decentralized exchange (DEX) and liquidity provider, Cetus Protocol, has confirmed a $260 million exploit, triggering panic across the crypto community. In response, Cetus is offering a $6 million white hat bounty to the hacker in hopes of recovering the stolen assets.
The breach, first detected in the early hours, involved fake tokens and manipulated liquidity pools. Preliminary investigations reveal that the attacker used counterfeit assets like BULLA to distort reserve calculations and drain legitimate assets, including SUI and USDC. The hacker then transferred $60 million in USDC to Ethereum, converting the funds into ETH, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain.
Cetus identified the hacker’s Ethereum wallet—0xe28b50—and has sent a direct message proposing a deal: return 20,920 ETH (~$56.3 million) and keep 2,324 ETH (~$6 million) as a bounty. The protocol emphasized that if the stolen assets are moved or mixed, legal actions will follow.
In an official statement, Cetus said,
“We have paused all smart contracts for safety and are working with partners, including Inca Digital, to recover user funds and enhance our platform’s security.”
Crypto giant Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, responded swiftly, pledging support for SUI:
“We are doing what we can to help SUI. Not a pleasant situation. Hope everyone stay SAFU!”
The exploit caused SUI’s price to crash by 15% within four hours. Although SUI had previously rallied on the heels of OKX’s launch of xBTC, the token has since dropped to $3.83, down 4.38% in 24 hours, though still up 33% over the past month.
The hack also had a ripple effect on Sui-based tokens. Tokens like LBTC, AXOL, LOFI, HIPPO, and SQUIRT plunged—some losing nearly 80% of their value in just six hours.
As Cetus scrambles to contain the damage and recover funds, the attack raises renewed concerns about DeFi security and risk management, especially for growing ecosystems like Sui Network.
Disclaimer: The information in this article is for general purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The author’s views are personal and may not reflect the views of Chain Affairs. Before making any investment decisions, you should always conduct your own research. Chain Affairs is not responsible for any financial losses.
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