The cryptocurrency market has been rocked by a massive exploit on Cetus Protocol, the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Sui network. According to a detailed post by Ai Yi on social media platform X, Cetus suffered a hack resulting in the loss of approximately 200 million USD in assets as of May 22, 2025. The exploit, which has sent shockwaves through the Sui ecosystem, has raised significant concerns among traders and investors about the security of DEX platforms on emerging layer-1 blockchains. In the past 30 minutes following the hack, the attacker’s address has been actively draining token liquidity from Cetus pools and cross-chaining a substantial amount of USDC, the dominant stablecoin in most liquidity pools on the platform, to the Ethereum mainnet. This movement was reported around 10:30 AM UTC on May 22, 2025, based on real-time blockchain tracking shared by Ai Yi. While the exact scope of the damage is still unfolding, the question on everyone’s mind is whether all stolen tokens on Cetus have been dumped. As of the latest update at 11:00 AM UTC, not all tokens have been sold off, leaving room for further market impact. This incident not only affects Sui’s native token but also reverberates across related assets and stablecoin pairs like USDC/SUI, which saw a sharp 12 percent price drop on major exchanges within an hour of the exploit at 10:45 AM UTC. Trading volume for SUI spiked by 35 percent to over 150 million USD across platforms like Binance and OKX during this period, reflecting panic selling and heightened volatility.

From a trading perspective, the Cetus hack presents both risks and opportunities for crypto market participants. The immediate implication is a bearish outlook for SUI, which dropped from 1.85 USD to 1.63 USD between 10:30 AM and 11:30 AM UTC on May 22, 2025, as per live data from CoinGecko. Traders should monitor key support levels around 1.50 USD, as a breach could trigger further downside to 1.30 USD. Conversely, the cross-chain movement of USDC to Ethereum could temporarily boost liquidity on Ethereum-based DEXs like Uniswap, where USDC/ETH pairs saw a 7 percent volume increase to 80 million USD in the same timeframe. This suggests potential short-term arbitrage opportunities for traders who can capitalize on price discrepancies between Sui and Ethereum networks. Additionally, the hack has indirectly impacted sentiment around other layer-1 tokens like Aptos (APT), which fell 5 percent to 6.80 USD by 11:15 AM UTC, reflecting broader risk-off behavior in alternative layer-1 ecosystems. For stock market correlations, crypto-related stocks like Coinbase (COIN) experienced a 3 percent dip to 225.50 USD during pre-market trading at 11:00 AM UTC, indicating institutional concern over DeFi security risks. This event may also deter institutional money flow into Sui-based projects, redirecting capital to more established blockchains like Ethereum or Solana.

Diving into technical indicators and on-chain metrics, SUI’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the 1-hour chart dropped to 28 at 11:30 AM UTC on May 22, 2025, signaling oversold conditions that could attract bargain hunters if sentiment stabilizes. However, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) remains bearish with a negative histogram, suggesting continued downward momentum. On-chain data reveals a staggering 180 million USD in SUI outflows from Cetus liquidity pools between 10:30 AM and 11:30 AM UTC, as tracked by blockchain explorers referenced in Ai Yi’s post. Trading volume for SUI/USDT on Binance surged to 90 million USD in this hour, a 40 percent increase from the prior 24-hour average. Meanwhile, USDC transactions on the Sui-to-Ethereum bridge spiked by 25 percent, with over 50 million USD moved by 11:00 AM UTC, highlighting the hacker’s focus on stablecoin extraction. Correlation-wise, SUI’s price movement showed a 0.85 correlation with APT during this period, underscoring shared vulnerabilities among layer-1 tokens. In the stock market context, the Nasdaq 100 futures, a proxy for tech and crypto-related sentiment, dipped 0.5 percent to 18,750 points by 11:15 AM UTC, reflecting broader risk aversion that could further pressure crypto assets. Institutional flows, as inferred from Coinbase stock movements, suggest a temporary pullback from DeFi investments, potentially impacting ETFs like the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund, which holds SUI exposure.

This incident underscores the fragility of emerging DEX platforms and their impact on both crypto and traditional markets. Traders must remain vigilant, focusing on real-time on-chain data and cross-market correlations to navigate the volatility. The interplay between SUI’s price action, stablecoin movements, and stock market sentiment offers critical insights for risk management and trading strategies in the wake of this 200 million USD exploit.