Cetus stands to recover $162 million in stolen assets if a governance proposal is approved by the Sui community, with a comprehensive plan to restore user funds already underway.
The Sui-based decentralized exchange Cetus could be nearing the recovery of funds lost during a recent exploit, depending on the results of a community governance vote set to conclude on June 3.
On May 22, Cetus experienced an exploit resulting in the loss of more than $220 million in digital assets. In the aftermath of the breach, the platform succeeded in freezing $162 million of the compromised funds.
In a post shared on X on May 27, Sui announced that Cetus had submitted a request for a community vote to authorize the recovery of the frozen assets.
The post stated that if the community vote passes, Cetus will retrieve the stolen funds from the attacker and place them in a multisig trust account. The team will then hold the assets there until they can return them to the users who held positions in Cetus.
The vote forms part of a larger recovery strategy that involves tapping into Cetus’s treasury and obtaining an emergency loan from the Sui Foundation.
The community has been actively debating the role of Sui validators in freezing the compromised funds. While some users have raised concerns about potential centralization risks, others have commended the swift action as a strong measure for enhancing security.
Holders of the Sui (SUI) token, currently valued at $3.70, have the option to delegate their tokens to a validator that aligns with their voting preferences.
As of the latest available data from the Sui blockchain explorer, 52.9% of validators had cast votes in favor of the proposal, while 46.7% had not yet participated in the voting process.
Cetus Requests Emergency Loan from Sui Foundation
Cetus has submitted a request for an emergency loan from the Sui Foundation, in addition to seeking backing from validators and the broader community to facilitate the recovery of the stolen assets.
Cetus has announced its intention to completely reimburse the stolen assets if the community vote succeeds in retrieving the currently locked funds.
In a post shared on X on May 27, Cetus stated that “a full recovery for all affected users is possible,” thanks in part to a crucial loan secured from the Sui Foundation.
Cetus confirmed it will begin the recovery process immediately, regardless of the vote outcome. The team plans to release a detailed roadmap outlining the next steps for affected users.
