Cetus Relaunches on 8th June Following $200M Hack

Protocol to Resume on June 8 with Refilled Pools, CETUS Compensation, and Legal Action Against Attacker

After nearly two weeks of around-the-clock recovery efforts, Cetus Protocol has relaunched on June 8 at 3:00 UTC, following a major security incident that drained millions from its Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker (CLMM) pools.

The exploit, which took advantage of a vulnerability in a CLMM-dependent open-source library, severely disrupted pricing and liquidity across Cetus’ largest pools. The team has now shared a detailed recovery plan, including pool rebalancing, compensation via CETUS tokens, and a renewed legal offensive against the unidentified attacker.

What Happened

Cetus was the target of a sophisticated hack that exploited a third-party smart contract dependency. The attacker drained several major pools and conducted a series of disruptive on-chain swaps, unbalancing prices and liquidity.

Since the attack, the team has:

• Identified and patched the exploited vulnerability.
• Worked with Sui validators to quarantine and retrieve stolen assets.
• Secured a $30 million loan from the Sui Foundation.
• Used $7 million in treasury funds to replenish assets like SUI, WAL, DEEP, and USDY.
• Conducted thorough audits of all upgrades, including a new compensation contract.
• Recalibrated pool balances and restored functionality for swaps, LP positions, and fee rewards.

Liquidity Restoration & Compensation

• Liquidity recovery rates for affected pools range between 85% and 99%, depending on the pool’s exposure.
• Users from unaffected pools will see no change to their liquidity.
• Users from affected pools will regain access to their LP positions upon relaunch.
• LP position NFTs will serve as proof of eligibility for CETUS token compensation.

CETUS Token Compensation

To cover unrecovered losses, Cetus is allocating 15% of the total CETUS supply to a new compensation contract:

• 5% claimable immediately at relaunch.
• 10% to be unlocked monthly over 12 months, following the original team vesting schedule.
• No new token inflation will occur.

👉 Compensation Claim Page goes live at relaunch.

What Comes Next

• Legal pursuit continues: Cetus has initiated cases across multiple jurisdictions and is cooperating with law enforcement agencies.
• The attacker has begun laundering the assets, which Cetus calls “futile and traceable.”
• Any future recovered funds will be used to:
  • Allow users to exchange CETUS for USDC (if within the compensation period).
  • Repay the Sui Foundation loan.
  • Conduct CETUS buybacks and reinforce the community treasury.

Community Outlook

This relaunch marks a critical moment for Cetus, not just as a recovery from a major breach, but also as a shift toward a more community-driven token economy. The team’s use of treasury reserves and full surrender of unvested CETUS tokens has been framed as a “transformative moment” for the protocol.

Users are encouraged to review their pool exposure and claim compensation as soon as the platform reopens on June 8 at 3:00 UTC.