Cetus Protocol Hack Sees $223 Million Stolen; Contracts Paused – Coincu

Cetus Protocol reported a breach on May 22, 2025, with an attacker stealing $223 million. The significant security breach on Cetus Protocol, a major decentralized exchange, raises concerns within the crypto ecosystem and highlights ongoing security challenges.

Cetus Protocol experienced a major security breach today, leading to approximately $223 million stolen. The attacker targeted the largest decentralized exchange on the Sui blockchain, exploiting pricing vulnerabilities within the system. Immediate actions were taken by the protocol, including pausing smart contracts to prevent further losses.

Cetus Protocol Faces $223 Million Security Breach

In response to the breach, Cetus has frozen $162 million of the stolen assets and is collaborating with the Sui Foundation to recover remaining funds. This incident has prompted a thorough investigation, with the exchange stating that publishing a full incident report remains a priority for transparency.

Market reactions have been swift, with the CETUS token plummeting over 40% to the Sui network price drops. Rosco Kalis noted normal users were affected as Sui token prices crashed, despite the SUI token remaining relatively stable. The market impact has extended across the Sui ecosystem with noticeable declines in several tokens.

🚨Alert Announcement 🚨 There was an incident detected on our protocol and our smart contract has been paused temporarily for safety. The team is investigating the incident at the moment. A further investigation statement will be made soon. We are grateful for your patience. — Cetus Protocol Team, Official Account

Price Drop and Security Concerns in DeFi Highlighted

Did you know? Security breaches like the Cetus Protocol hack have been identified as a persistent threat in the DeFi space, emphasizing a need for enhanced safeguards against vulnerabilities in price oracles and liquidity pools.

Cetus Protocol’s current price stands at $0.18 with a market cap of $127.27 million, according to CoinMarketCap. The CETUS token has seen an -18.27% drop in price over the past 24 hours, in response to the analysis of recent Sui network incidents and market activity.

Experts from the Coincu research team emphasize the need for robust security measures in DeFi protocols, as current trends show heightened risks of exploitation. Challenges persist around safeguarding price oracles and liquidity pools from attack vectors that manipulate asset valuations.