$162M Frozen on Sui After Coordinated Validator Action – Here’s What Happened

On Wednesday, Sui’s validator community took swift, decisive action to freeze $162 million in funds linked to a major exploit targeting the Cetus protocol. Here’s a breakdown of the rapid response:

What Happened:

• Sui validators each maintain a config file that allows them to ignore transactions from specific addresses.

• This mechanism is optional and reversible, used at the discretion of each validator.

• Over ⅓ of validators by stake agreed to block transactions from two attacker-controlled addresses, effectively freezing the funds before they could be bridged out.

Why This Matters:

• This move does not roll back chain history, nor does it require global consensus — any validator on any network can choose to block addresses based on risk tolerance or regulatory needs.

• The freeze was a temporary, emergency measure to buy time and leverage for potential negotiations. Sadly, the attacker has not responded to outreach from Cetus.

Next Steps:

Today, Cetus proposed a community-wide on-chain vote to upgrade the protocol in order to return the frozen funds to victims — without any chain reversion.

This is an extraordinary request in response to an extraordinary situation. To ensure neutrality and fairness, the following principles will apply:

1. Neutrality: Sui Foundation will abstain from the vote. Our role is to design and facilitate a transparent and secure process.

2. Accountability: Cetus must publicly commit to exhausting all financial resources to ensure full customer restitution.

More details, including the vote design and supporting code, will be shared soon. The community’s voice will shape what happens next.