In its latest update, Cetus Protocol, a decentralized exchange on the Sui blockchain, has offered a $6 million bounty to the hacker responsible for the massive security breach it suffered on May 22.
Cetus Protocol lost about $223 million on Thursday due to the exploit and has been looking for ways to mitigate the issue and possibly recover the stolen funds from the hacker.
Cetus Protocol Issues Ultimatum to Hacker
In its update, Cetus Protocol revealed that, through investigations, the platform had successfully identified the Ethereum wallet address linked to the attacker behind Thursday’s security breach. The platform added that it had taken measures to communicate with the hacker and negotiate the secure return of customer funds.
“We have offered a time-sensitive whitehat settlement in exchange for the outstanding balance. Should the hacker accept our terms, we would also refrain from pursuing further legal action.”
The Cetus team, backed by the data analytics company Inca Digital, in a message, urged the hacker to return the stolen assets, specifically 20,920 ETH valued at around $56.3 million, as well as all the frozen funds currently held in the attacker’s Sui wallets.
If the hacker takes up Cetus Protocol’s offer and returns the majority of the stolen assets, the platform will grant the attacker a substantial $6 million bounty, equivalent to 2,324 ETH. In addition, Cetus Protocol will drop all further claims, cease investigations, and refrain from taking any public or legal action against the hacker.
The offer is time-sensitive, and if the funds are transferred or mixed, the deal will be off the table. Should the hacker refuse the deal, Cetus warned it will employ the help of U.S. federal law enforcement, FinCEN, the Seychelles Police, and major exchanges to track, freeze assets, and pursue legal action.
Cetus Protocol Suffers Over $200 Million Hack
On Thursday, Cetus Protocol suffered a security breach that resulted in about $223 million in losses. According to the platform, the hacker exploited a vulnerability in the protocol’s concentrated liquidity market maker pools by injecting tiny amounts of liquidity into trading pools using spoofed tokens.
As a result, the attacker stole approximately 20,920 Ethereum (ETH) and other assets, such as SUI tokens and USD Coins (USDC).
