The Sui blockchain came under fire after it supported the Cetus Protocol proposal to recover $162 million in frozen assets following the May attack on the platform, which resulted in the theft of over $223 million. In response, more than a third of Sui validators blocked transactions from two addresses suspected of ties to the attacker, allowing for the 'freezing' of a significant portion of the stolen funds.
Cetus proposed a plan to recover $162 million without reversing the blockchain history or erasing previous transactions, calling on the community to vote on a protocol update. While the Sui Foundation declared neutrality and merely supported conducting an internal vote, this decision raised doubts about the integrity of decentralization and the principle of immutability of the blockchain.
Additionally, Cetus has offered a $6 million reward for assistance in recovering funds, while the Sui Foundation has offered $5 million for information leading to the identity of the hacker. Notable on-chain detectives, including ZachXBT, criticized these bounties as 'unclear' and insufficient, pointing out that the lack of guaranteed funds to cover initial investigation costs discourages specialists from engaging in lengthy inquiries.
According to Yu Xian, co-founder of security firm SlowMist, the lack of sufficient upfront resources and uncertainty regarding fund recovery may cause investigations to be halted before yielding results.
The DeFi community is now watching whether the on-chain voting will end in the acceptance of a controversial compromise, or whether it will strengthen the belief that even partial interventions in the operation of the network undermine the foundations of blockchain immutability.