Crypto Shock: SUI Price Struggles Under $4 After $223M DeFi Hack—What’s Next?
Crypto markets were rocked recently as the SUI token tumbled, trading around $3.62—down about 1% over 24 hours and recovering sluggishly after a devastating $223 million Cetus Protocol exploit on May 22. As one of the largest DeFi hacks of the year, this incident has put immense pressure on the Sui blockchain ecosystem and triggered a fierce debate about decentralization and trust in altcoins.
Before the breach, SUI was on a strong uptrend, having surged over 60% in the previous month and hitting a local high of $4.29 in mid-May. This rally was largely powered by real-world asset tokenization hype and institutional partnerships fueling excitement across blockchain circles. But the exploit—rooted in flaws within Cetus’ smart contracts—sent SUI plunging by 14% in a single day. It has since remained stuck between $3.48 and $3.62, a nearly 20% drop from pre-hack levels.
Attackers manipulated price feeds using counterfeit tokens, draining liquidity pools and prompting an immediate trading freeze. The SUI/USDC pool alone lost $11 million, with total value locked on Sui falling sharply from $2.13 billion to $1.92 billion.
Sui price analysis. Credit: crypto.news
These vulnerabilities led to Cetus’s native token plummeting by 40%, while stablecoins like USD Coin momentarily lost their peg amid the liquidity crunch. Notably, Sui validators managed to freeze $162 million of the stolen crypto by blacklisting the attacker’s assets. While this curbed the losses, it also sparked criticism—some in the DeFi community argue that such centralized intervention undermines true blockchain decentralization. This echoes wider crypto trust deficit and security concerns.
Insiders and experts now question the network’s governance, noting that validator concentration and slow user participation threaten Sui’s decentralized aspirations.
On the trading side, data shows SUI derivatives volume jumped nearly 40% to $3.57 billion amid volatility, even as open interest dipped by almost 3%, signaling traders may be taking profits or reducing exposure. Technical indicators remain mixed: the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovers around 50 (neutral zone), with short-term momentum hinting at upside but a bearish Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) pattern.
Major moving averages—50-, 100-, and 200-day—still flash buy signals, suggesting that SUI could resume its bullish trend if it withstands the recent turmoil. For now, the token is firmly below the crucial $4 resistance, watched closely by traders seeking the next decisive move.
DeFi investors should also keep an eye on internal market shifts: read about altcoin season’s key challenges and explore expert analysis of SUI’s previous surges to better understand the current volatility.
Despite turbulence, the resilience of SUI’s long-term indicators means investors will be watching closely to see if the project can bounce back from the shadow of this high-profile hack.