Sui Pumps $10M Into Security Fixes Following Cetus Breach—Because Nothing Says ’Trust Us’ Like a Post-Hack Cash Splash

Sui’s blockchain just coughed up a eight-figure mea culpa after Cetus got drained. Here’s the autopsy—and why ’security upgrades’ always seem to follow the crime.

The band-aid budget

That $10 million isn’t buying champagne—it’s funding audits, bug bounties, and the kind of infrastructure hardening that should’ve happened pre-exploit. Standard crypto playbook: move fast, break things, then throw money at the wreckage.

Devs in damage control

Engineers are now racing to patch the holes that let attackers waltz through Cetus’ backdoor. Expect boilerplate promises about ’never again’—until next quarter’s hack drops.

Another day, another crypto project paying the ’governance tax’ after cutting corners. At least the check cleared before the next bull run.

Sui is Upgrading Its Blockchain Security

Although the exploit was caused by a bug in Cetus’s custom math library—not a flaw in the Sui blockchain or MOVE language—Sui acknowledged the impact on users reflects on the broader network.

The new measures aim to shift Sui’s approach from platform-only responsibility to shared accountability across the ecosystem. The blockchain wants to support builders directly and reduce the likelihood of similar incidents.

Also, sui mentioned that it’s committed to working closely with its developer community to determine how and where the $10 million will be deployed. 

We’re kicking this off by committing to spend an additional $10M on security initiatives. These funds will be spent on audits, bug bounty programs, formal verification, and other ways to harden SUI — we’ll figure out the details in collaboration with our developer community.

This includes supporting verified open-source libraries and improving security education across its ecosystem.

The announcement follows a major exploit of the Cetus Protocol on May 22. Attackers drained $223 million by exploiting a vulnerability in an AMM function. 

The bug allowed for manipulation of liquidity positions through arithmetic overflow.

In response, Sui validators froze approximately $162 million of the stolen assets. Around $60 million was bridged to ethereum before the freeze.

Meanwhile, the attack was not directly on the Sui network, but it did have a negative impact on market sentiment. SUI has dropped nearly 10% since the incident 

Most notably, the network’s TVL has dropped sharply from $2.1 billion on May 22 to $1.5 billion after the attack. 

Sui’s On-Chain Vote Sparks Criticism

Over the weekend, Sui faced criticism for proposing an on-chain vote to return the frozen funds to Cetus. While the foundation pledged neutrality, many community members raised concerns over validator power and potential centralization.

The vote drew comparisons to Ethereum’s 2016 DAO incident. It sparked fresh debate over governance and the immutability of blockchain networks.

Meanwhile, Cetus has offered a $6 million white-hat bounty, and the Sui Foundation posted an additional $5 million reward for information leading to the attacker’s identification.

Overall, this incident has marked a pivotal moment for Sui’s maturity as a LAYER 1 blockchain. The blockchain’s latest security initiative is commendable.

As BeInCrypto previously reported, most Web3 security experts think proactive measures are the only way to mitigate losses and major exploits in this industry.