Cetus makes 'white hat' offer after shocking hack
After the attack that caused a loss of 223 million USD on the evening of May 22, Cetus Protocol officially made a surprising offer to the hacker: return 20,920 ETH (equivalent to about 56.3 million USD) and keep 2,324 ETH (~6 million USD) as a 'white hat' reward if they cooperate. At the same time, Cetus announced that it would not pursue legal action if the attacker agreed to refund and did not continue to launder money through coin mixing tools or convert to fiat currency.
The attack in detail and the rapid response from the Sui ecosystem
The attack originated from a vulnerability in the smart contract of the liquidity pool on #Cetus , allowing the hacker to manipulate and withdraw funds, swap to USDC, and continue swapping to ETH. In total, the attacker withdrew a massive amount of assets and transferred them to various wallets.
Immediately afterwards, the Sui Foundation along with validators on the Sui blockchain intervened by blocking transactions from related wallet addresses, successfully freezing 162 million USD in assets, helping to mitigate the overall damage for users and the protocol.
Cetus makes on-chain asset refund offer
In the early morning of May 23, Cetus traced the main Ethereum wallet address of #hacker and immediately sent an on-chain offer stating: if the hacker returns all 20,920 ETH stolen, they will be allowed to keep 2,324 ETH as a reward and will not face criminal charges. However, Cetus clearly warned that if the hacker attempts to convert the assets to fiat or use anonymity tools like coin mixers, they will immediately pursue prosecution and investigation.
Controversy erupts: Is Sui 'pseudo-decentralized'?
The ability of validators on the $SUI network to quickly block transactions has sparked a wave of controversy in the crypto community regarding the true level of decentralization of this blockchain. Justin Bons – founder of Cyber Capital – has heavily criticized:
"SUI validators are colluding to censor transactions. This proves that SUI is a centralized network."
Bons emphasizes that with only 114 validators and the majority of tokens held by the founding team, power in the Sui ecosystem is too centralized. He also dismissed comparisons with Ethereum, asserting that Ethereum has never censored any transactions, even during the DAO hack in 2016.
The bigger issue: trust in public blockchain
According to Bons, the concern is not only about the specific actions of the validators but also their ability to coordinate censorship easily. This shows that the Sui blockchain – despite being public – is operating in a centralized model. This is in stark contrast to the core values that blockchain and DeFi aim for: decentralization, censorship-resistance, and transparency.
Current status and next actions of Cetus
Cetus stated that the contract vulnerability has been patched and the team is actively working to find ways to recover the remaining assets. Meanwhile, the 'white hat' offer remains open, and the entire community is watching to see if the hacker will accept the deal.
Contacting the crypto market:
The incident at Cetus is a new warning for Web3 projects and crypto users about the safety of smart contracts and the true decentralization of the blockchain. For users on exchanges like Binance, it is crucial to thoroughly assess the blockchain platform before interacting, not only to avoid asset risks but also to protect privacy and trust in the decentralized system.
Risk warning: Investing in cryptocurrency carries many risks, including the possibility of losing the entire investment. This article is not financial advice. Always do thorough research and consider carefully before entering the crypto market. #anhbacong