Sui Community Votes on Cetus Recovery Plan

On May 22, 2025, the decentralized finance protocol Cetus on the Sui blockchain suffered a $220 million exploit, with $162 million of the stolen funds frozen. 

The breach was due to a vulnerability in Cetus’s concentrated liquidity pools, allowing attackers to siphon assets before validators froze $162 million within hours.

Following the breach, the protocol has proposed a comprehensive recovery plan to fully reimburse users from its treasury, a $6 million white hat bounty offered to recover funds, and an emergency loan from the Sui Foundation as a means to address and make amends for the losses. 

The white hat bounty, announced on May 23, is intended to pay ethical hackers to recover assets stolen from them.

The success of the proposal relies on a community vote by validators, requiring over 50% participation and majority consensus to implement a protocol upgrade and unlock the $162 million in frozen assets. The voting process, which began recently, is scheduled to conclude on June 3, 2025.

Sui Validators Show Early Support for $162M Rescue

According to data available as of May 28, 2025, 52.9% of the network’s validators have voted in favor of the recovery plan, with 46.7% yet to vote. Major validators, such as Everstake, led the 52.9% support, while smaller nodes may delay voting due to resource constraints.

Cetus has promised to begin the repayment of users immediately after the vote ends, both in case of approval and rejection, through its treasury and the Sui Foundation loan to cover all of the $220 million loss. A detailed recovery plan is expected to follow the vote to ensure transparency. 

In a recent post, the firm explained the reimbursement process, with claims that funds will be distributed through a secure mechanism post-vote.

With significant early support, the approval of the proposal remains possible, though the final outcome depends on the remaining validators’ votes.

Cetus Hack Tests Sui’s Strength in DeFi’s Spotlight

Cetus’ recovery plan is a test of the blockchain’s resilience and ability to manage large-scale security breaches. The Sui Foundation loan to secure 100% compensation for users and the $6 million bounty also reveal the ecosystem’s commitment to its community. 

If approved, the $162 million in frozen funds will be held in a multisig trust account for distribution.

The community has remained positive and supportive while Cetus and the Sui Network are rallying for validators’ votes, though some users have questioned the liquidity pool restoration timelines, which are critical for DeFi trading. 

The quick validator freeze, executed within hours, showed Sui’s responsiveness but raised questions over its 10-validator governance model. The validator-led freeze has also raised additional questions over the blockchain’s decentralization, with concerns about centralized control.

A successful recovery could improve Sui’s standing favorably against competitors like Solana and Aptos as well as strengthen its DeFi market share sector.

Sui price chart (Source: CoinMarketCap)