Sui validators vote on $162M Cetus recovery plan to restore user funds

Sui-based decentralized exchange Cetus may be one step closer to recovering the funds lost in a recent exploit, pending the outcome of a community governance vote scheduled to end June 3.

Cetus was exploited for over $220 million worth of digital assets on May 22. Shortly after the incident, Cetus managed to freeze $162 million of those funds.

In a May 27 post on X, Sui said Cetus had requested a community vote to approve the recovery of the frozen funds.

“If the community vote is approved, the funds will be recovered from the attacker and held in a multisig trust account until they can be returned to accounts who had positions in Cetus,” the post stated.

The vote is part of a broader recovery plan that includes using Cetus’ treasury and securing an emergency loan from the Sui Foundation.

The ability of Sui validators to freeze the funds has sparked debate within the community, with some users criticizing the centralization risk and others praising the rapid response as a positive step for security.

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Sui (SUI) tokenholders can stake their delegated tokens to a validator that votes in line with their preference.

At the time of writing, 52.9% of validators had voted in favor, while 46.7% have yet to cast their votes, Sui blockchain explorer data shows. 

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Cetus has also requested an emergency loan from Sui, along with validator and community support for the return of the stolen funds.

Cetus is now in a position to “fully cover the stolen assets” if the locked funds are recovered through the ongoing community vote.

“This includes a critical loan from the Sui Foundation, making a 100% recovery for all affected users possible,” Cetus said in a May 27 X post.

Regardless of the vote’s outcome, Cetus said a recovery process would begin immediately. The protocol plans to publish a detailed plan outlining next steps for affected users.

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