- Attacker drained $11M worth of SUI from Cetus DEX, causing major losses and market panic.
- Token values dropped by over 90% while trading paused and liquidity vanished overnight.
- Cetus stopped its smart contract and began a full review while users waited for more updates.
Early this morning, over $200 million allegedly vanished from Cetus Protocol’s liquidity pools, causing widespread panic across the Sui DeFi ecosystem. Cetus, a key DEX on the Sui blockchain, saw its trading functions collapse as liquidity pools drained within hours. Users reported dysfunctions while token values on the platform crashed drastically, some by over 90%. Despite stability on centralized exchanges, prices on Cetus nosedived, sparking immediate concerns of a major security breach.
Besides the asset drain, USDC on Sui briefly depegged, trading for pennies. Liquidity across all token pairings fell sharply, some dipping to as low as $143,000.
Liquidity Vanishes, Functions Cease
The exploit triggered a sudden halt in trading activity. Cetus disabled its smart contracts as a safety measure, confirming an internal investigation had begun. The attackers reportedly manipulated token reserves using spoof tokens, removing funds with minimal inputs. Consequently, tokens like BULLA were used to fake reserves, drain assets, and convert them to USDC.
These stolen assets are now being moved from the Sui blockchain to the Ethereum mainnet. Screenshots show drastic real-time price gaps and minimal buy-sell activity. Furthermore, Cetus’s unique liquidity model—allowing providers to set specific price ranges—became a vulnerability rather than a strength during the attack.
Token Collapse Triggers Market Shock
Token prices on Cetus plummeted. Many saw losses as high as 99.63% in a single day. On the SUI/USDT pair alone, the attacker drained around $11 million worth of SUI. On-chain data and user reports confirmed the sharp crash in trading volume. Liquidity pairs vanished as traders fled the platform. While SUI remained stable on centralized platforms, its DeFi value crashed drastically.
Also, the sudden drop in prices shook users’ faith in Sui. Because all the liquidity pools are dry, the main DEX functions remain halted. Problems in the network were noticeable everywhere, including among DeFi apps built on Sui. Meanwhile, some responses were actually positive. According to Binance Square, investor James Wynn took a long position on SUI, showing faith in the chain’s ability to come back.
Related: Two-Year Prison Term Recommended for SEC X Account Hacker
A Planned Drain or Technical Oversight?
Was this a coordinated attack or a flaw in protocol design? Key signs point to deliberate manipulation. Besides drained liquidity, fake tokens were used to exploit price curves and exit with real funds.
Cetus said in an official statement that it had “suspended the protocol to prevent further damage” and is “investigating the root cause.” The company pledged to release a full postmortem report. Until then, users are advised to avoid interactions and follow official updates.
