Cetus Protocol on SUI Grinds to Halt After Suspected Exploit—Funds Vanish
Another day, another DeFi breach—this time it’s Cetus Protocol on the SUI blockchain hitting the emergency stop button. Early reports suggest a hacker bypassed security and drained liquidity pools dry. The team’s now scrambling to contain the fallout while users are left staring at empty wallets.
No official numbers yet, but community sleuths peg losses in the millions. The exploit follows a familiar script: flash-loan attack, price oracle manipulation, or maybe just good old-fashioned code oversight. Who needs banks when DeFi builds its own vaults—then leaves the doors wide open?
SUI’s native token dipped 8% on the news, because nothing inspires confidence like a project freezing withdrawals. Cetus vows a post-mortem, but let’s be real—by the time they publish it, crypto Twitter will have moved on to the next shiny exploit. Stay paranoid out there.
Cetus Protocol Halts All Operations
Cetus Protocol, a major decentralized exchange and liquidity provider on the sui blockchain, is at the center of a growing security crisis. The team has paused all smart contracts to shield user funds during its investigation. This deliberate step was announced to stress their commitment to safety.
“There was an incident detected on our protocol and our smart contract has been paused temporarily for safety. The team is investigating the incident at the moment. A further investigation statement will be made soon. We are grateful for your patience,” the company posted
This announcement fueled concern among investors, as no technical report or detailed post-mortem has appeared on Cetus Protocol’s main platform. As volatility shakes SUI markets and liquidity pools remain disrupted, users and analysts continue to monitor updates from the team.
The Cetus team reportedly said the incident was due to an Oracle bug. However, on-chain analysts have reported the incident as a hack.
“The biggest LP provider on SUI was just hacked Hopefully CETUS resolve this and fast because it is affecting the entire ecosystem,” wrote crypto analyst Gordon on X.
The official suspension of Cetus operations has also led to urgent questions about the breach’s scale, leaving the SUI community awaiting clarity. While live blockchain data reveals ongoing asset movement, users are counting on Cetus Protocol for an official explanation of the incident’s cause and severity.
Community Response and Scope of the Attack
Analysts and on-chain observers have compiled emerging details. Early evidence shows SUI-denominated pools were drained, and investigators quickly tracked large amounts of USDC and other tokens moving into external ecosystems. This rapid movement suggests a calculated and well-planned attack, not merely an oracle malfunction.
“The Sui Cetus hack is a hack, not an ‘oracle bug’ as the team are suggesting. oracle exploit, sure. But this wallet is draining funds from cetus, and desperately bridging USDC and other tokens out. 100s of MIL GONE,”an on-chain analyst posted on X.
Other observers echoed these findings. A subsequent post outlined the incident’s scope.
“Cetus, the leading DEX and primary liquidity provider on SUI, has reportedly been hacked. The attacker gained control of all SUI-denominated pools, exploiting over $200 million, and has also started moving USDC,” analytics platform Onchain Lens said.
Estimates of the total losses differ. Some sources suggest attackers took $11 million, while others believe the number could exceed $200 million. However, these amounts remain unconfirmed pending official verification on blockchain explorers.
