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Cetus Hack: $220M Stolen, Users Demand Clarity

Summary at a Glance

On May 22, 2025, the decentralized exchange Cetus fell victim to a large-scale hack. Within minutes, digital assets worth over USD 220 million were stolen. The Cetus team responded quickly and, in collaboration with the Sui Foundation, was able to freeze approximately USD 162 million. To recover the remaining funds, Cetus is offering the attacker a USD 6 million bounty. At the same time, a recovery plan is underway, based on community voting and technical measures.

What Happened?

Cetus is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Sui blockchain platform. On May 22, 2025, the protocol became the target of a coordinated attack. In a very short time, the attackers managed to siphon off cryptocurrencies worth over USD 220 million. The exact vulnerability has not yet been made public.

Through collaboration with the Sui Foundation and the decentralized validator network, transactions from suspicious wallet addresses were blocked and approximately USD 162 million were frozen. This secured a significant portion of the stolen funds.

The Cetus Recovery Plan

Cetus is pursuing a two-pronged approach to recover the stolen funds:

• White-Hat Bounty: The attacker is being offered a USD 6 million reward if they voluntarily return the stolen assets.
• Community Vote: The Sui community will decide via on-chain governance whether to release the frozen funds.

In addition, Cetus is working with external partners to trace stolen funds that were bridged to other blockchains such as Ethereum.

Current Status of the Recovery

While Cetus’s aggregator service is back online, key liquidity pools remain offline. Data recovery is proving to be complex. According to the Cetus team, the current focus is entirely on recovering the stolen assets.

Negotiations with the attacker are ongoing. Cetus emphasizes that it is mobilizing all available financial resources of the protocol to compensate users as much as possible.

Community Dissatisfaction

Despite ongoing efforts, dissatisfaction among users is growing. Many criticize the lack of transparency and the absence of concrete timelines. Although the Cetus team promises full transparency, this is only to be implemented after internal coordination.

Uncertainty about possible compensation and the actual return of funds is creating increasing pressure. Users are demanding clear statements and measurable progress.

Our Assessment

The attack on Cetus once again highlights how vulnerable decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols are to security breaches. The team’s swift response and collaboration with the Sui Foundation were crucial in preventing a total loss. Nevertheless, it remains unclear if and when affected users will be fully compensated.

The proposed white-hat bounty is an attempt to minimize damage, but it carries the risk that attackers may act similarly in the future in hopes of receiving a reward. The community vote is a positive sign for decentralized decision-making, but it takes time—time that many users don’t have.

Cetus is now under scrutiny. The coming weeks will show whether the protocol can regain the trust of its users.

Sources

• CryptoQuant
• cetusprotocol.com