Sui Announces $10 Million Security Overhaul After the Cetus Hack

Sui Network has announced a $10 million investment into ecosystem-wide security improvements, following a $223 million exploit targeting Cetus Protocol, a decentralized exchange built on Sui.

The initiative includes funding for smart contract audits, bug bounty programs, formal verification tools, and collaboration with developers to reinforce dApp security.

Sui is Upgrading Its Blockchain Security

Although the exploit was caused by a bug in Cetus’s custom math library—not a flaw in the Sui blockchain or Move language—Sui acknowledged the impact on users reflects on the broader network.

The new measures aim to shift Sui’s approach from platform-only responsibility to shared accountability across the ecosystem. The blockchain wants to support builders directly and reduce the likelihood of similar incidents.

Also, Sui mentioned that it’s committed to working closely with its developer community to determine how and where the $10 million will be deployed. 

We’re kicking this off by committing to spend an additional $10M on security initiatives. These funds will be spent on audits, bug bounty programs, formal verification, and other ways to harden Sui — we’ll figure out the details in collaboration with our developer community.

— Sui (@SuiNetwork) May 26, 2025

This includes supporting verified open-source libraries and improving security education across its ecosystem.

The announcement follows a major exploit of the Cetus Protocol on May 22. Attackers drained $223 million by exploiting a vulnerability in an AMM function. 

The bug allowed for manipulation of liquidity positions through arithmetic overflow.

In response, Sui validators froze approximately $162 million of the stolen assets. Around $60 million was bridged to Ethereum before the freeze.

Meanwhile, the attack was not directly on the Sui network, but it did have a negative impact on market sentiment. SUI has dropped nearly 10% since the incident 

Most notably, the network’s TVL has dropped sharply from $2.1 billion on May 22 to $1.5 billion after the attack. 

Sui TVL Drops Following the Cetus Hack. Source: DeFilLama

Sui’s On-Chain Vote Sparks Criticism

Over the weekend, Sui faced criticism for proposing an on-chain vote to return the frozen funds to Cetus. While the foundation pledged neutrality, many community members raised concerns over validator power and potential centralization.

The vote drew comparisons to Ethereum’s 2016 DAO incident. It sparked fresh debate over governance and the immutability of blockchain networks.

Meanwhile, Cetus has offered a $6 million white-hat bounty, and the Sui Foundation posted an additional $5 million reward for information leading to the attacker’s identification.

Overall, this incident has marked a pivotal moment for Sui’s maturity as a Layer 1 blockchain. The blockchain’s latest security initiative is commendable.As BeInCrypto previously reported, most Web3 security experts think proactive measures are the only way to mitigate losses and major exploits in this industry.