Key Takeaways:
- Cetus Protocol was exploited for over $200 million, inflicting mass panic throughout the Sui ecosystem.
- Strict KYC pushes darknet distributors towards DeFi platforms.
- Monero beneficial properties traction as darknet operators ditch traceable Bitcoin.
Cetus Protocol, a decentralized trade constructed on the Sui blockchain, has reportedly fallen sufferer to an exploit which will have siphoned off greater than $200 million in digital belongings.
The breach, which was first flagged by pseudonymous Web3 researcher COMDARE3, has triggered widespread panic throughout the Sui ecosystem, with many tokens plunging in worth.
Market knowledge from DEX Screener exhibits a brutal selloff, with belongings like Lombard Staked BTC (LBTC) and AXOLcoin (AXOL) collapsing practically 100%.
High Tokens on Cetus Undergo Large Losses
The highest 15 tokens on Cetus all suffered losses of over 75% prior to now 24 hours.
The protocol’s good contracts have since been paused, based on a publish on the official Cetus X account.
Alert Announcement
There was an incident detected on our protocol and our good contract has been paused quickly for security. The staff is investigating the incident in the meanwhile. An extra investigation assertion might be made quickly. We’re grateful in your endurance.— Cetus
(@CetusProtocol) Might 22, 2025
Funds from the alleged exploiter’s pockets embrace $52 million in SUI, practically $20 million in wrapped USDT, $4.9 million in Haedal Staked SUI (HASUI), and a big stash of lesser-known tokens resembling Rest room (TOILET).
On-chain analysts estimate the attacker has begun shifting tens of hundreds of thousands to Ethereum, together with a reported $60 million in USDC.
Regardless of the size of the incident, the Cetus staff has tried to downplay the exploit.
In statements on Discord, staff members referred to it as a “bug,” a characterization that has drawn backlash from compliance specialists.
Onchain Lens, a blockchain evaluation agency, corroborated the severity of the incident, noting that the attacker “gained management of all SUI-denominated swimming pools” and started shifting stablecoins shortly afterward.
Cetus (@CetusProtocol), the main DEX and first liquidity supplier on $SUI, has reportedly been hacked.
The attacker gained management of all SUI-denominated swimming pools, exploiting over $200M, and has additionally began shifting $USDC.https://t.co/Qh3cx2ymZM pic.twitter.com/cbv3d6KHLx— Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) Might 22, 2025
SUI, the native token of the Sui blockchain, is down sharply following the assault, as confidence within the community’s DeFi infrastructure takes a serious hit.
Crypto Misplaced $1.6 Billion to Hacks in Q1
Within the first three months of 2025, the crypto ecosystem misplaced a whopping $1,635,933,800 throughout 39 incidents, based on the blockchain safety platform Immunefi.
The report claimed, “Q1 2025 marks the worst quarter for hacks within the historical past of the crypto ecosystem.”
Most of that was the results of solely two hacks of two centralized exchanges. Phemex suffered a $69.1 million loss in January, whereas Bybit misplaced $1.46 billion in February.
Subsequently, the full variety of losses within the first quarter marks a 4.7x enhance in comparison with Q1 2024. At the moment, hackers and fraudsters stole $348,251,217.
Notably, specialists assume that the notorious North Korean Lazarus Group is behind the 2 largest assaults. They stole $1.52 billion, or 94% of complete losses.
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