Cetus: exploit of over 200 million dollars shakes the DEX on Sui blockchain

The DEX Cetus on the Sui blockchain is at the center of a serious incident that involved a theft of digital assets estimated at over 200 million dollars

This episode, confirmed by authoritative cybersecurity sources, is generating a wave of concerns in the Web3 sector and highlights the vulnerabilities even in the most innovative platforms.

The attack on the DEX Cetus: dynamics and official confirmations from the blockchain

The first reports came from a pseudonymous Web3 researcher, COMDARE3, who posted on X (formerly Twitter) about suspicious movements on the DEX Cetus, specifying that “users report” the presence of an exploit.

The acquisition of data has shown a strange spike in activity in transactions and a rapid depletion of resources

The team of Extractor, an onchain tool developed by the company Hacken, has confirmed that at least 63 million dollars have already been transferred to Ethereum

A single transaction moved as many as 20,000 ETH to a newly created wallet, providing concrete evidence of the relaunch of the loot on other blockchain networks. Yehor Rudytsia, a Web3 expert from Hacken, verified this information, confirming its validity

Following this, the aggregated data from Cetus pools reveal a processed volume that went from 320 million dollars to nearly 2.9 billion in transactions recorded during the incident. This anomalous jump clearly indicates the massive extraction of funds from the protocol.

Despite the requests for clarification, the Cetus team has not released immediate comments, and neither has the Sui blockchain development group spoken out on the matter.

The exploit had significant repercussions on key tokens traded in the DEX. In particular, Lombard Staked BTC (LBTC) and AXOLcoin (AXOL) experienced substantial declines in value on the platform

Among the first 15 most affected tokens, the losses were greater than 75% of their market price.

Surprisingly, not all assets have experienced the same crash. LBTC has even recorded an increase of 4% in the last 24 hours, while AXOL and other similar tokens have consistently lost value

This heterogeneous trend reflects the confusion and instability of the internal market at the DEX following the incident.

Official reaction of Cetus: suspension and investigation ongoing

The address linked to the attack contains about 52 million dollars in Sui tokens, in addition to 4.9 million dollars in Haedal Staked SUI (HASUI), about 19.5 million in Toilet (TOILET), and other significant assets like wrapped USDt for nearly 20 million.

After the discovery of the exploit, the official Cetus account admitted the existence of a problem with the protocol, stating that the smart contract was immediately paused for security reasons

An internal investigation has been initiated to identify the origin of the breach and to implement any recovery measures.

This stance, although belated, seems necessary to calm the spirits in the network of users and investors, however, it still does not provide comprehensive answers on the actual extent of the damage.

Onchain analyses have alerted specialists in the blockchain compliance and security sector

An extremely important warning comes from AMLBot, a platform specialized in monitoring digital financial flows

Which reported transactions of about 212 million dollars to Ethereum, moved at an impressive speed of one million dollars per minute.

This speed in the transfer of funds suggests that there might be more behind the incident than just a simple technical bug. Opening scenarios potentially linked to planned malevolent operations.

AMLBot has raised doubts about the definition of “simple bug” used by the Cetus team, emphasizing that the timing and speed of financial movements require a more in-depth analysis.

Exploitation of SUI pools and stablecoin movement

According to the reconstructions released by Onchain Lens, the attacker took control of all the pools denominated in SUI. Thus, extracting resources for over 200 million dollars.

An initial shift of USD Coin (USDC), the stablecoin widely used in the sector, towards wallets not yet identified has also been reported.

This maneuver suggests a strategy aimed at distributing and perhaps liquidating a portion of the misappropriated funds. Thus immediately increasing the complications for potential recovery or traceability attempts.

The case of Cetus represents an important wake-up call for emerging blockchain-based DEX like Sui. More generally for the entire Web3 ecosystem.

The ability of such a significant attack to drain over 200 million dollars highlights the ongoing challenges related to the security and transparency of decentralized platforms.

However, the prompt suspension of the contract and the initiation of investigations show that a responsible approach is possible even in critical situations

For users of Cetus and for those operating in the digital asset sector, closely following the evolution of this matter will be essential to understand how to improve security practices and manage risk in a volatile and complex market.

Now more than ever, greater synergy is needed between blockchain developers, decentralized exchanges, and cybersecurity operators to strengthen defenses against similar illicit activities

Transparency in communications and collaboration with compliance entities are essential tools to protect investors and the reputation of the market.

Furthermore, it is essential that users adopt active vigilance practices, monitor their assets, and promptly inform themselves of potential anomalies to limit the impact of negative events.

Cetus demonstrates how in the world of decentralized finance even cutting-edge technologies can be vulnerable. Reminding us of the importance of security, which is indispensable today for the future of Web3 and the trading of digital assets.