Sui Validators Approve Plan to Restore $162 Million to Cetus Users

The decentralized exchange Cetus within the Sui ecosystem will return the stolen $162 million if the community approves the transfer of frozen funds.

Cetus has requested a community driven vote to recover the funds frozen following last week’s hack.

In response, the Sui Foundation has released code for an onchain community vote. Sui validators can cast votes, and Sui holders can also vote directly through stake delegation.… https://t.co/pVLTItN0MH

— Sui (@SuiNetwork) May 27, 2025

The vote will conclude on June 3. The process may end early (at least after two days) if the outcome is mathematically predetermined.

At the time of writing, 56 out of 114 validators have voted. Of these, only two opposed the initiative, while 54 (55.4%) approved it.

Sui holders can delegate staked coins to validators who reflect their preferences.

The participation of the Sui Foundation is not provided to maintain “neutrality.”

On May 22, an attacker exploited a vulnerability in the liquidity pool smart contracts of the decentralized exchange. Some of the stolen assets were converted into USDC and then into Ethereum.

Sui validators blocked transactions from wallets associated with the hack. The platform team stated that $162 million of the compromised funds are temporarily frozen to protect the ecosystem, and the vulnerability has been fixed.

“If the proposal is approved, the assets will be moved to a trust multisig account [controlled by Cetus, Sui Foundation, and OtterSec] until they can be returned to the DEX clients’ wallets,” the statement reads.

The vote is part of a broader recovery plan, which includes using Cetus treasury funds and an emergency loan from the Sui Foundation.

? New Progress Update – A Path Forward Together!

Since the incident, we have reflected deeply on the incident and its impact on our users, partners, and the broader ecosystem. We are deeply sorry and take this responsibility seriously. Today, we want to share a meaningful step…

— Cetus? (@CetusProtocol) May 27, 2025

The actions of Sui validators have sparked criticism within the community. Previously, Cyber Capital founder Justin Bons noted that the transaction block confirms the network’s centralization: 114 validators are controlled by the founders, who own the majority of SUI tokens. Other users praised the project for its swift response.

Regardless of the vote’s outcome, Cetus stated that the recovery process will begin immediately. The protocol plans to present a detailed plan outlining further steps for affected clients.

Earlier, the decentralized exchange team offered the hacker $6 million for the return of 20,920 ETH. If agreed, the project promised not to contact law enforcement or disclose the attacker’s information.

Previously, Dedaub specialists explained the Cetus hack as a vulnerability in the liquidity parameter check of the automated market maker.