Community Mobilises Following Exploit
Cetus begins recovery underway after Sui exploit. Cetus, a decentralised exchange built on the Sui blockchain, is moving ahead with a recovery plan after suffering a large-scale exploit that resulted in significant losses. A blockchain security team from Hacken, which runs an on-chain monitoring tool known as Extractor, reported that digital assets worth at least $63 million had already been transferred to the Ethereum network. One transaction alone involved the movement of 20,000 ETH. Overall, estimates suggest the exploit may have affected more than $200 million in assets.
In the wake of this breach, the Sui community acted swiftly. Within a few days, the majority of stakers and validators backed a key governance proposal that would enable Cetus to regain control of the frozen funds. According to the Sui Foundation, validators representing more than 90% of the network’s stake gave their support to the proposal, which allowed the funds to be moved to a multi-signature wallet managed by Cetus, OtterSec, and the Sui Foundation. This wallet will act as a secure holding account while the platform carries out its recovery process.
Image 1: Cetus logo (Source: Coingape)
Plan in Place to Resume Services
Cetus has announced it is aiming to fully restore its services within the next week. The team outlined a staged process that includes technical upgrades, auditing, fund conversion, and user compensation. One of the first steps is a network-wide protocol update coordinated with Sui validators. This will enable the movement of frozen assets to the new trust wallet and kick off the broader recovery efforts.
A crucial part of the recovery is a major upgrade to the smart contract that governs how liquidity pools operate on Cetus. This contract, referred to as the CLMM (Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker), has been modified to support emergency recovery procedures. The upgrade has been completed and is now undergoing security checks to ensure it’s ready for relaunch.
Cetus is also working on restoring historical pool data, which is necessary to assess and quantify the liquidity losses from each pool affected by the exploit. This information will help determine how to compensate liquidity providers fairly.
Recovery of Assets and Compensation Process
Because the attacker carried out a series of complex swaps, many of the stolen assets are no longer in their original form. Cetus has said it will begin converting these assets back into more stable forms using a strategy that avoids large market movements or price distortions. The focus, the team says, is on preserving the value of these assets while preparing them to be returned to their rightful owners.
To handle user claims, Cetus is developing a dedicated compensation mechanism. The contract that will manage this process is under development and will go through an external audit before being made available. This will allow users who experienced losses to claim what they are owed through a transparent and structured process.
In addition to recovering the affected pools, the Cetus team is also upgrading supporting features to ensure compatibility with the new smart contract system. Once all checks are completed and systems are ready, the platform will resume all its core services. Users will once again be able to trade and provide liquidity, with the exception of pools that were directly impacted by the exploit, which will resume with partial recovery and compensation in place.
Cetus has stated it will use its own reserves, including its cash holdings and token supply, to cover any gaps. A financial loan from the Sui Foundation is also playing a key role in ensuring that the platform can make users whole. With these resources in place, Cetus is confident that it will be able to achieve full recovery for all affected users.
Image 2: Cetus (Source: Coindoo)
Looking Ahead
The Cetus team has acknowledged that the upcoming week will be complex, but it says every effort is being made to complete the recovery as safely and efficiently as possible. The project is working in partnership with trusted blockchain security firms and ecosystem stakeholders to ensure all necessary upgrades and audits are carried out properly.
Cetus has committed to keeping the community informed as progress continues. The team is releasing updates regularly and says transparency remains a top priority throughout the process.
While the exploit was a major event, the coordinated response from the Sui community and the fast action from Cetus has helped restore confidence. With a plan in place and support from the broader ecosystem, Cetus is aiming to emerge stronger, more secure, and better prepared to handle future challenges.
