Crooks Stole Over $200 Million from Crypto Exchange Cetus Protocol

Cetus Protocol, a decentralized crypto exchange, has reported a staggering $223 million crypto theft. The platform was temporarily paused during the investigation, and the team is working diligently to recover the stolen funds. In an effort to mitigate further losses, Cetus Protocol is offering a unique deal: return the stolen funds, and they'll drop all legal action.

Last week, threat actors successfully breached Cetus Protocol's smart contracts, exploiting vulnerabilities in their AMM (Automated Market Maker) logic. The attackers deployed spoof tokens to manipulate price curves and reserve calculations, allowing them to extract real assets from multiple liquidity pools, including the SUI/USDC pool. This clever tactic enabled them to steal approximately $223 million in cryptocurrencies.

According to researchers at PeckShield, the hackers had already bridged $60M of the stolen funds to Ethereum before the incident was detected. The blockchain security firm confirmed that the threat actors moved stolen funds across chains and swapped USDT to USDC. Elliptic reported that the Cetus hack stemmed from a flaw in AMM logic, possibly involving price manipulation and flash loans.

The attackers exploited vulnerabilities in Cetus Protocol's smart contracts by deploying spoof tokens to manipulate price curves and reserve calculations. This allowed them to extract real assets from multiple liquidity pools, including the SUI/USDC pool. The combined value of the native $SUI token and other stolen tokens exceeds $200 million, making it one of the largest hacks of 2025.

Researchers at Elliptic calculated that a portion of the stolen funds are comprised of tokens that have fallen substantially in value following the theft. Therefore, while some reports suggest that the stolen funds were worth in excess of $260 million just before the theft, the exploiter is unlikely to benefit from the full amount.

Cetus Protocol has taken immediate action to lock their contract and prevent further theft of funds. They have successfully paused $162M of the compromised funds and are working with the Sui Foundation and other ecosystem members to recover the remaining stolen funds. The company will provide a full incident report later.

The crypto exchange is offering a limited-time deal: return the stolen funds, and they'll drop all legal action. Additionally, Cetus Protocol has put up a $5M bounty for tips that help identify and catch the attacker. It remains to be seen whether this offer will be accepted by the hackers, but one thing is certain – the cryptocurrency community is watching closely.

As the investigation continues, it's essential to remember the importance of security awareness and best practices in the crypto space. Cetus Protocol's incident highlights the need for robust smart contract auditing and regular security updates. The crypto exchange has taken a proactive approach by offering a deal to return the stolen funds and collaborating with law enforcement to trace and freeze the attacker's assets.

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