Following last week’s $223 million security breach, Cetus Protocol—the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Sui blockchain—has received a crucial loan from the Sui Foundation. This financial support enables Cetus to reimburse all affected users in full, pending approval from an upcoming on-chain governance vote.

The loan covers only the bridged assets lost in the exploit and is separate from the frozen tokens currently locked in the protocol, which await community decision for possible use in reimbursements.

In a recent statement on X, Cetus confirmed that, combined with its own treasury reserves and the Sui Foundation’s loan, the project is positioned to cover all off-chain stolen assets fully, provided that the locked funds are released following the governance vote.

“This loan from the Sui Foundation is a key component that makes complete recovery possible for everyone impacted,” Cetus said.

The success of this recovery plan hinges on the upcoming on-chain community vote, which would authorize the use of the frozen assets to finalize reimbursements to users.

“These exceptional steps reflect our dedication to safeguarding the interests of the Sui community,” the Sui Foundation said in a press release, adding that with community support, a full recovery is achievable.

The exploit took advantage of manipulated spoof tokens like BULLA, which attackers used to exploit vulnerabilities in Cetus’s pricing algorithms and reserve logic. This allowed the theft of real assets such as SUI and USDC from liquidity pools without providing matching collateral.

At the time of the hack, over $162 million in stolen tokens were frozen on-chain, while the remainder was transferred out through several bridging mechanisms. The attacker’s wallet remains active, last seen holding more than 12.9 million SUI tokens, with additional assets suspected to be concealed or exchanged across various blockchains.

Cetus promptly halted smart contract operations and launched a full investigation. The CETUS governance token saw a nearly 40% drop following the hack, while DeFi activity on Sui slowed as concerns about liquidity and protocol security mounted.

Thanks to the newly secured loan from the Sui Foundation, Cetus is now prepared to begin reimbursing users immediately, marking a vital step toward rebuilding trust in the platform.