TL;DR

Sui approved the return of $162 million to those affected by the Cetus exploit, which took place on May 22 and resulted in losses exceeding $220 million.
The frozen funds will be transferred to a multisig wallet and distributed under a plan that includes resources from Cetus and an emergency loan from the Sui Foundation.
Cetus aims to reactivate its platform within a week and deploy an auditable compensation contract to cover remaining losses.

The Sui network approved the return of $162 million in frozen assets to those affected by the exploit on Cetus. The attack took place on May 22, during which over $220 million was stolen.

Sui Steps In to Keep Cetus Afloat

Thanks to the swift action of validators, a substantial portion of the funds was frozen shortly after the incident. The governance vote to decide the fate of those assets concluded on May 29, with 90.9% voting in favor, 1.5% abstaining, and 7.2% of validators not participating.

The plan involves transferring the frozen assets to a multisignature wallet held in temporary custody while organizing their distribution through a program managed by Cetus. This decision is part of a broader strategy that also includes funds from the Cetus treasury and an emergency loan provided by the Sui Foundation. The goal is to reactivate the platform and return funds to affected users through a structured process.

How the Recovery Process Will Work

The protocol announced that operational and financial recovery could be completed within a week. To make this possible, Sui validators will implement an upgrade that enables the transfer of funds to the multisig wallet, while Cetus progresses with data restoration and the deployment of its recovery pool. Additionally, a compensation contract is under development to cover remaining losses. This contract will undergo an audit before it goes live, allowing liquidity providers to claim any amounts not restored immediately.

Some decentralization advocates questioned the validators’ intervention, while others praised the speed of the response as a pragmatic move in the face of such a large-scale attack. Beyond that debate, the outcome of this process will show whether the combined effort of recovery, technical intervention, and compensation can maintain community trust and the liquidity Cetus needs to resume its normal operations

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Filed under: News - @ May 30, 2025 5:29 pm