Cetus Freezes $162M of the $220M Drained from Its SUI DEX

input: SUI Price is 3.91% up in 24 hours after SUI’s top DEX Cetus announced the freezing of $162 million of the $220 million that hackers drained

The price of SUI showed a 3.91% increase in 24 hours as Cetus, the leading DEX on SUI, announced the freezing of $162 million out of the $220 million that hackers stole on Thursday’s smart contract exploit.

As per a Q&A update by Cetus, the frozen amount was held within the SUI ecosystem while the remaining $60 million is held in ETH outside the ecosystem.

To recover 100% of the funds, the team said a concerted effort was already underway between them, the SUI Foundation and various other entities.

What’s Happening with SUI?

On May 24, SUI released an update on X explaining how the funds were frozen to calm concerns of the network’s centralization risk.

“Each validator has a configuration file that allows it to ignore transactions from a specific address. Adding addresses to this file is at the discretion of each individual validator, and can be reversed at any time,” Said the tweet.

For this reason, a third of SUI’s validators chose to ignore transactions from the suspected addresses, thereby helping freeze the funds.

Additionally, the Cetus team offered the exploiter a time-sensitive $6 million white hat bounty if they would return 20,920 ETH. The team promised it wouldn’t pursue any further legal action provided the hacker does not move or mix the stolen funds.

Analyst’s Eilliot Wave Analysis Projects Sui Price to Hit $20

According to analyst Michael_EWpro, the asset appears to be progressing within a textbook Elliott Wave cycle, a market structure that consists of five impulsive waves (1–2–3–4–5) moving in the direction of the broader trend, and followed by a three-wave corrective sequence labeled as (A–B–C).

As per Michael_EWpro’s chart, SUI completed waves (1) through (3), and is nearing completion of a wave (4) correction, with a potential bottom near the $1.50–$1.80 support zone. If this correction holds, it could set the stage for a powerful fifth-wave extension, with Fibonacci projections aligning the next major resistance between $13.00 and $20.00.

The ongoing correction also forms an ABC structure, with a projected retracement toward the $2.00–$2.40 range, aligning with the lower trendline of a broad ascending channel. This zone also coincides with the previous Wave (1) high, offering strong historical support and acting as a key accumulation level before the next leg up.

Should the correction be completed as expected, the next bullish impulse wave (5) could target Fibonacci extensions between 1.618 and 2.618, positioning price projections between $13 and $20. Volume profile analysis on the right side of the chart supports this move, with a notable gap between $4 and $10 suggesting minimal resistance until much higher levels.

While a short-term dip remains possible, the broader technical outlook remains constructive. A confirmed bounce from the $2 support zone would validate Wave (4) completion and set the stage for a breakout toward the $20 milestone in the coming months.

Final Take

The Cetus $220 million is DeFi’s biggest hack in 2025, but not as massive as the $1.4 billion centralized exchange hack that happened on the Bybit exchange. Despite the setback, SUI price has recorded 3.91% intraday gains and a bullish outlook from X markets pundit Michael_EWpro, who provided an optimistic SUI price forecast targeting $20.

For a long-term prediction of Sui Price 2030-2050 – Read This

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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