Cetus offers $5m reward for info on hacker

Cetus, the main decentralized exchange and liquidity protocol on Sui, has announced a $5 million reward for information that identifies the hacker in the $223 million hack that happened on May 22, 2025.

The Cetus team said in an update on May 23 that it had not heard from the hacker responsible for the $223 million exploit that hit the Sui (SUI)-based protocol. 

In the aftermath of the exploit, Cetus had offered the unidentified hacker a white hat deal. This came as a market reaction to the crypto theft saw most Sui tokens plummet. 

However, with no response from the hacker so far, the DEX project has asked for information on the hacker. It is offering a $5 million bounty reward. 

“We have not received any communication from the hacker. We encourage the hacker to sincerely consider our offer terms,” Cetus wrote in an update on X. “Simultaneously, with the support of Inca Digital and financial support from Sui Foundation, we are announcing a bounty of $5M for relevant information that results in the successful identification and arrest of the hacker(s).” 

The information Cetus’ security team seeks include a name, location and proof, with the public asked to submit this by email. But Cetus will end its pursuit of legal action if the hacker responds and returns the stolen funds.

“If the hacker should cooperate and accept our offer as we hope, we will refrain from pursuing any further legal action or recourse, including the $5m bounty.”

According to the update, payment of the bounty will be at the Sui Foundation’s discretion.

On Thursday, as the hack unfolded, the Cetus team swiftly swung into action and froze most of the assets before the attacker drained them. This action saw the protocol freeze $162 million of the compromised funds. In its time-sensitive offer to the hacker, Cetus demanded that they return over 20,920 Ethereum (ETH) and all funds frozen on Sui.