On May 22, 2025, the decentralized exchange Cetus, operating on the Sui network, was hacked, resulting in criminals withdrawing approximately $11 million in SUI coins. This incident caused a significant crash in tokens based on the Sui blockchain, with many losing over 80% of their value.
This is reported by Finway
Cetus is the largest liquidity aggregator on the Sui network, and the hack led to substantial negative consequences for the market. The SUI coin also experienced a decline, albeit minor, and later regained its position. In contrast, the cryptocurrency CETUS plummeted by about 40%. This drop is clearly visible on the charts provided by DEX Screener and TradingView.
Loss of the USDC Stablecoin Peg
Another consequence of the attack was that the USDC stablecoin on the Sui network lost its peg to the US dollar. At the time of publication, its value was around $0.035, indicating serious issues in the market.
Comments from the Cetus Team
The Cetus team released an official statement regarding the incident, noting that to ensure security, the smart contract was temporarily suspended. The statement reads:
“An incident was detected in our protocol, and for safety, the smart contract has been temporarily suspended. The team is currently conducting an investigation. An additional statement regarding the incident will be released shortly.”
It is worth noting that from April 20 to April 26, 2025, the trading volume on decentralized exchanges based on Sui reached a record high of $3.649 billion.