Sui Network Rocked By $223M Hack On Cetus DEX – Memecoins Plunge, Scallop Halts Trading

Sui (SUI) was the only major cryptocurrency to post losses over the past 24 hours after its largest decentralized exchange, Cetus Protocol, was hacked for an estimated $223 million.

Cetus, a leading decentralized exchange and liquidity provider on the Sui blockchain, confirmed the breach on X. 

The platform said it had locked its smart contracts to prevent further outflows and managed to pause $162 million of the compromised funds. “We are working with the Sui Foundation and other ecosystem members right now on next-step solutions,” Cetus said, adding that a full incident report will follow.

The attack triggered immediate fallout across the Sui ecosystem. Cetus protocol’s native token (CETUS) dropped by 40%. Sui-based meme coins, including Bulla (BULLA) and Planet Mojo (MOJO), tumbled more than 90%, while Axol (AXOL) plunged nearly 99.5%, as per CoinGecko data.

On-chain researcher COMDARE3 was among the first to flag the incident on X, noting steep, unexplained losses across DEX-listed assets during early U.S. trading hours. 

Extractor, an on-chain monitoring tool developed by the blockchain security firm Hacken, said that at least $63 million had already been bridged to Ethereum, including 20,000 ETH moved in a single transaction.

Cetus trading volumes surged to $2.9 billion on May 22, up from $320 million the day before — an activity that may reflect exploiters moving funds off-platform.

The breach has had immediate knock-on effects. Scallop (SCA), a Sui-based money market protocol, halted all borrowing activity pending further review. The platform said user funds remain secure.

Binance founder CZ said his exchange had contacted the Sui team to offer assistance.

Despite the exploit, the broader crypto market remained in rally mode. Bitcoin (BTC) rose 1.7% to $111,300. Avalanche (AVAX) led gains among top tokens, climbing 6.9%, followed by Cardano (ADA), which rose 3.1%.

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