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Hack of Cetus: USDC Converted to Ethereum on the Mainnet, Millions in Losses Shake the Sui Ecosystem
Cetus, a prominent decentralized exchange (DEX) and liquidity provider on the Sui blockchain, has fallen victim to a massive exploit on May 22, 2025, resulting in suspected losses exceeding $200 million in digital assets. The platform has temporarily paused its smart contracts and urged users to avoid interactions until further notice, while investigating the root cause of the incident.
Initial reports suggest that the attack led to the complete drain of several liquidity pools. On-chain data indicates that the attacker gained control of all pools denominated in SUI, moving large amounts of USDC and converting them to Ethereum (ETH) on the Ethereum mainnet. This has generated a crisis of confidence in the Sui DeFi ecosystem.
Although the Cetus team initially referred to the incident as "just a bug," the magnitude of the losses and the nature of the attack have led many to suspect a deliberate exploit. This event underscores the persistent risks in the DeFi space, especially in newer ecosystems like Sui, and the critical importance of smart contract security and the robustness of price oracles. The crypto community remains vigilant regarding Cetus's investigation and its implications for the future of security in DeFi.$ETH