Sui Validators Freeze Majority of Stolen Funds in $220M Cetus Hack

A major security breach on Cetus, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Sui blockchain, resulted in the theft of over $220 million. However, in a swift response, Sui validators have managed to freeze approximately $162 million of the stolen assets.

The Cetus Hack: A Timeline

On May 22nd, Cetus suffered a devastating hack, believed to be a smart contract code exploit. This allowed attackers to drain the DEX of a massive amount of user funds, initially estimated at $223 million.

According to Web3 security notification tool Extractor, around $63 million of the stolen funds were bridged to the Ethereum network. They also identified a wallet address used to launder a significant amount of Ether (ETH).

The Response: Validators Step In

The Sui Foundation and Cetus team are collaborating to recover the remaining stolen funds. A crucial aspect of this effort involves Sui validators, who identified the addresses holding the stolen assets and are now ignoring transactions from those addresses. This freeze aims to prevent further movement of the funds and facilitate their potential recovery.

Community Divided

While the quick action by validators is welcomed by many as a positive step toward asset recovery, it has also sparked debate within the crypto community. Concerns have been raised about the level of centralization within the Sui network, given that a relatively small number of validators (114) have the power to freeze wallets. Some argue that this level of control undermines the core principles of decentralization and censorship resistance.

Key Takeaways

• The Cetus DEX on the Sui blockchain was hacked for over $220 million.
• Sui validators have frozen $162 million of the stolen funds.
• The incident highlights the ongoing security challenges in the crypto space.
• The validators' actions have raised questions about decentralization and censorship resistance in the Sui network.