Hack drains $223M from Sui’s main liquidity source, causing Sui token prices to crash.

Cetus Protocol, Sui’s Leading DEX, Hit by $223M Hack, Triggering Sharp Declines in Sui Tokens

Cetus Protocol, the largest decentralized exchange and liquidity provider operating on the Sui blockchain, was hacked for $223 million, the project confirmed on X.

The protocol announced that $162 million of the stolen assets have been frozen, and it is actively collaborating with the Sui Foundation to recover the remaining funds.

The hacker’s wallet, identified as address 0xe28b50, still holds over 12.9 million SUI tokens, currently valued at about $54 million. On-chain analysis indicates the wallet’s total holdings exceed 32.9 million SUI (roughly $137 million), hinting that the attacker may have already laundered or bridged part of the stolen tokens across different networks.

The wallet remains operational, likely continuing efforts to obscure the funds. This exploit has seriously impacted Sui’s DeFi landscape, draining liquidity from major pools and trading pairs.

Cetus quickly paused all smart contracts to limit further damage and has launched a full investigation. Early reports suggest the attacker manipulated the protocol by exploiting faulty price curves and reserve calculation mechanisms using spoofed tokens like BULLA. By adding negligible liquidity, the hacker manipulated liquidity pool states to withdraw genuine assets like SUI and USDC multiple times without proper collateral.

The team confirmed on X that the contracts have been paused “for security reasons,” with a detailed incident report forthcoming.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) stated that Binance’s team has reached out to offer assistance to the Sui ecosystem.

Following the hack, CETUS token prices dropped by 40%, while related Sui meme coins BULLA and MOJO plunged over 90%.