TL;DR
- Cetus Protocol, a leading decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Sui and Aptos blockchains, suffered a significant security breach on May 22, 2025, resulting in the loss of approximately $223 million due to a smart contract exploit.
- In response, Cetus promptly paused its smart contracts, initiated an investigation, and secured a loan from the Sui Foundation to fully compensate affected users.
- CoinEx continues to support CETUS trading, including the CETUS/USDT pair, via its Automated Market Making (AMM) system, allowing users to earn trading fee dividends.
Introduction
Cetus Protocol, established as a prominent DEX leveraging Concentrated Liquidity Market Making (CLMM) on the Sui and Aptos blockchains, faced a critical security incident on May 22, 2025. An attacker exploited a vulnerability in its smart contracts, leading to the unauthorized withdrawal of approximately $223 million from its liquidity pools.
Demonstrating resilience and commitment to its community, Cetus acted swiftly by halting affected contracts, conducting a thorough investigation, and collaborating with the Sui Foundation to secure a loan aimed at fully reimbursing impacted users.
Despite this setback, trading of the CETUS token remains active on CoinEx. Investors can continue to engage with the CETUS/USDT trading pair through CoinEx’s AMM system, providing opportunities to earn passive income via trading fee dividends while supporting the protocol's liquidity.
What Is Cetus Protocol?
Cetus is a next-generation decentralized exchange (DEX) built to maximize capital efficiency through Concentrated Liquidity Market Making (CLMM). Unlike traditional AMMs, Cetus allows liquidity providers (LPs) to focus assets within custom price ranges, thereby reducing idle capital while boosting returns.
Designed for high-performance blockchains, Cetus runs natively on Aptos and Sui, leveraging the speed and security of their Move-based virtual machines (Move VM). Its modular architecture ensures gas-efficient trades, seamless upgrades, and smooth integration with other DeFi tools.
Key Features Making Cetus Stand Out:
- Smarter CLMM: Inspired by Uniswap V3 but optimized for Move VM chains, offering tighter spreads and deeper liquidity.
- Built-In Yield Tools: Auto-compounding rewards and farming integrations help LPs optimize earnings without manual effort.
- LP-Centric Design: Intuitive dashboards show real-time fees, impermanent loss, and position performance.
- Community First: Open-source code and fair tokenomics (with 60% of tokens for community incentives) prioritize decentralization.
Cetus turns complex market making into an accessible, high-reward opportunity, whether you’re a trader seeking low slippage or an LP chasing sustainable yields.
Recent Update: Smart Contract Attack & Security Response
In May 2025, Cetus faced a significant security challenge: an attacker exploited a vulnerability in its CLMM smart contracts, draining approximately $223 million from liquidity pools. The exploit used price manipulation tactics—artificially inflating asset values before swapping them at unfair rates.
Cetus’s Transparent Recovery Steps:
1. Immediate Action:
- Paused all contracts within 2 hours.
- Traced stolen funds across chains.
2. Technical Fix:
- Patched the flaw by adding real-time price deviation checks.
- Deployed upgraded contracts after audits.
3. User Protection:
- Committed to full compensation for affected users.
- Funds sourced from Cetus’s treasury and emergency loans (e.g., Sui Foundation).
4. Public Accountability:
Released a detailed post-mortem report explaining the attack.
Hosted AMAs to address community concerns.
Lessons & Future Safeguards:
- Stronger Oracles: Integrating multiple price feeds to prevent manipulation.
- Enhanced Monitoring: 24/7 anomaly detection systems.
- Expanded Audits: Collaborating with third-party firms like Zellic.
This incident proved Cetus’s resilience. By acting swiftly, communicating openly, and prioritizing user recovery, they turned a crisis into a demonstration of operational strength, setting a new standard for DeFi security transparency.
Long-Term Outlook for CETUS
CETUS is positioned for sustained growth as a cornerstone of the Move-based blockchain ecosystems (Aptos and Sui). Its pioneering Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker (CLMM) model offers unmatched capital efficiency, making it a critical DeFi hub as these high-speed networks expand.
Growth drivers include:
- Rising Adoption: Nearly 2 million users and over $13 billion in total trading volume demonstrate strong traction.
- Key Partnerships: Integrations with Binance Web3 Wallet, hardware wallet leader Tangem, and Circle’s native USDC boost accessibility.
- Innovation Pipeline: Upcoming cross-chain support, automated DCA tools, and advanced yield vaults will attract new users.
- Resilient Fundamentals: Pre-incident peaks of $220 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) prove underlying demand.
Investment Potential:
Trading near $0.10 (May 2025), CETUS remains well below its all-time high of $0.49. Analysts project a rebound toward $0.30–$0.42 by late 2025 if Sui/Aptos adoption accelerates and upgraded security restores confidence. As the go-to DEX for Move-based chains, its first-mover advantage and ecosystem alignment offer compelling upside.
CoinEx AMM: Maximize CETUS Yield Opportunities
What Is Automated Market Making (AMM)?
CoinEx’s AMM replaces traditional order books with liquidity pools. Instead of matching buyers/sellers directly, trades happen against a pool of tokens (like CETUS and USDT) supplied by users. This automated system guarantees 24/7 trading, lower slippage, and fair pricing through simple algorithms.
Benefits for CETUS Liquidity Providers
By adding CETUS and USDT to CoinEx’s AMM pool, you unlock:
- Fee Earnings: Receive 50% of all trading fees generated by the CETUS/USDT market, distributed hourly based on your share of the pool.
- Effortless Participation: Deposit both tokens in any ratio; the system auto-balances your position. No active management needed.
- Zero Fee Flexibility: Add or remove liquidity anytime without charges—ideal for both short-term trials and long-term holding.
- Transparent Metrics: Track real-time yields, including:
- 1-Day APY: Reflects recent trading intensity.
- 7-Day APY: Shows sustained performance.
Example: CETUS/USDT AMM Metrics on CoinEx
Pool metrics of CETUS/USDT as of May 30, 2025:
- Total Liquidity: $17,424
- 7-Day Fee Dividend: $684
- 1-Day APY: 42.23%
- 7-Day APY: 195.97%
If you believe in CETUS's future, thanks to its unique tech and role on Aptos/Sui—CoinEx AMM lets you earn more tokens while holding. As the crypto market grows, adding liquidity now could mean earning tokens today and profiting if CETUS rises later.
Conclusion
The listing of Cetus (CETUS) on CoinEx presents a prime opportunity to engage with a pioneering project in the move-based blockchain ecosystem (Aptos and Sui). With its innovative CLMM technology, resilient security response, and rapidly growing adoption, CETUS is positioned for significant growth in the DeFi landscape.
By leveraging CoinEx’s AMM feature, investors can amplify returns through liquidity provision to the CETUS/USDT market, earning substantial trading fee dividends while supporting ecosystem development.
CoinEx AMM merges DeFi efficiency with exchange reliability, offering zero-fee flexibility and real-time yield tracking. As the Aptos and Sui ecosystems expand, now marks an ideal moment to capitalize on CETUS’s potential. Join CoinEx today, add liquidity to the CETUS/USDT pool, and accelerate your crypto portfolio’s growth.
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