TL;DR
- Bounty Offer: Cetus Protocol is offering a $6M reward to the hacker if they return 20,920 ETH, approximately $56M in stolen funds from a $223M exploit.
- Strategic Recovery: By extending this deal, Cetus aims to bypass lengthy legal processes and stimulate voluntary cooperation to recover the funds.
- Rapid Response: The Sui network swiftly froze the compromised addresses, pausing transactions of about $162M in tokens to stabilize its ecosystem.
Cetus Protocol has extended an unprecedented olive branch to the hacker behind a $223 million exploit. The DEX, operating on the Sui blockchain, is offering the culprit a $6 million bounty in exchange for the return of approximately $56 million in stolen ETH. This bold move comes amid a flurry of urgent recovery efforts following a sophisticated breach of its liquidity pool smart contracts.
A Bold Recovery Initiative
Cetus Protocol’s offer is as unconventional as it is strategic. In a late-night announcement via social media, the team revealed that they had identified the Ethereum wallet used in the attack. They proposed a deal: if the hacker returns 20,920 ETH that was illicitly transferred to Ethereum, he will be allowed to keep 2,324 ETH as a bounty.
📜 Dear Sui community, thank you for your patience while our team works on the incident investigation and resolution.
Since taking the actions indicated in our previous announcement, we have also done the following:
1. We engaged the broader ecosystem, Sui team, and related… https://t.co/Gs1EWXZ6AD
— Cetus🐳 (@CetusProtocol) May 22, 2025
This unique negotiation is designed to not only recover a significant portion of the stolen funds but also to bypass the lengthy, uncertain process of conventional legal action. By offering a tangible reward, Cetus aims to disrupt the typical hacker mentality and encourage voluntary cooperation, thereby minimizing further damage to the protocol’s ecosystem.
Swift Chain Response on Sui
Immediately following the exploit, the Sui network sprang into action. Sui validators collaborated seamlessly, freezing addresses linked to the attack and effectively halting any transactions from the compromised funds.
This rapid coordinated effort managed to “pause” approximately $162 million in tokens, demonstrating the capacity of a decentralized network to mobilize defenses in real-time. Such decisive measures are critical in maintaining stability and trust in decentralized systems, especially in the wake of disruptive security breaches.
Market Impact and Future Implications
While Cetus’ innovative bounty offer shines a light on the evolving tactics within DeFi, the hack has already sent shockwaves through the market. The incident led to a significant drop in the value of the protocol’s native token and raised pressing questions about governance and the level of centralized control in supposedly decentralized ecosystems.
However, by embracing a forward-thinking approach and directly engaging with the hacker, Cetus is not only taking decisive action to recover funds but also setting a provocative precedent in the crypto security landscape.
