SUI price drops after LP provider Cetus allegedly hacked
Sui (SUI) price declined sharply as the market reacted to news that a leading decentralized exchange on the Sui network, Cetus, had been hacked.
On May 22, 2025, Sui was eyeing a potential uptick towards $5 as Bitcoin broke to a new all-time high above $111k.
However, negative news that the liquidity provider DEX Cetus had been hacked and $11 million in SUI drained left the cryptocurrency facing downward action.
Sui price dips 5% in an hour amid Cetus exploit
SUI fell more than 5% in an hour as the price dropped from around $4.20 to $3.92. The decline saw the cryptocurrency’s market cap dip to $13.3 billion.
Nonetheless, the altcoin remained above the lows of $3.60.
Bears reached this level on May 19 as token unlock sentiment gave them an upper hand.
On May 21, Sui jumped to $4.20, its highest level since May 7.
The upside mirrored BTC’s spike to a new all-time peak.
However, as news that Cetus, the main LP provider DEX on the Sui network, had reportedly been hacked spread, prices dropped.
The Cetus protocol team acknowledged the incident via an update on X.
In the announcement, the platform said the team had temporarily paused the protocol’s smart contract “for safety.” Cetus’ security team also initiated an investigation into the incident.
Lookonchain analysts claimed that more than $260 million was taken from the exchange.
The emptying of pools saw most tokens on the DEX plummet by more than 70%.
Downside pressure also engulfed SUI, which slipped as the hacker siphoned millions in Sui from the SUI/USDC pool.
Cetus (@CetusProtocol), the leading DEX and primary liquidity provider on $SUI, has reportedly been hacked.
The attacker gained control of all SUI-denominated pools, exploiting over $200M, and has also started moving $USDC.
suiscan.xyz/mainnet/accoun…
The slight dip sees Sui’s native token risk losing the momentum it had signaled in recent days.
SUI has in recent months become one of the fastest growing chains with regard to decentralized finance, with DefiLlama showing the platform’s total value locked at $2.79 billion – up from $1.43 billion in early March 2025.
Grayscale’s unveiling of its SUI Trust and excitement over 21Shares’s move to file for a spot SUI ETF have added to the positive outlook.
However, despite the filings and DeFi activity, SUI has traded mostly range-bound in recent weeks. A notable token unlock did not help the bulls’ case.