From protocol vulnerabilities to decentralized dialectics: A detailed explanation of the Cetus incident. Has the security of the MOVE language been shaken?

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ABMedia
05-23
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Recently, the largest decentralized exchange on Sui, Cetus, was hacked for $220 million, with approximately $60 million already cross-chain transferred to Ethereum. Amber Group's security researcher shared on Twitter that the issue originated from a vulnerability in the Cetus protocol, which has little to do with the security pride of the MOVE language. Additionally, Mysten Labs' product lead Adeniyi stated that $160 million has been soft-locked from the validators' side. This article will take you through the entire incident and decentralization debate. The key issue was in the `get_delta_a` function's overflow check failure. Essentially, the attacker carefully designed a liquidity value that caused the `checked_shlw` function to return a smaller value, allowing them to withdraw massive funds with minimal tokens. This problem is unrelated to Sui MOVE language's claimed object-oriented security. After the incident, Mysten Labs' product lead Adeniyi immediately stated that $160 million of the $220 million stolen had been frozen. While this might be good news for Cetus, it raises questions about violating decentralization principles. However, decentralization is not a black-and-white issue. Ethereum previously had about 14% of its supply hacked, leading to a hard fork vote to recover tokens. The freezing mechanism works by validators collectively ignoring transactions from blacklisted addresses. While the network record shows the hacker still holds these assets, they are effectively soft-locked and cannot package transactions on-chain. Bucket protocol's Damien noted that while this method is somewhat centralized, it is at least written into the rules. Regarding decentralization, experts argue that DeFi's value lies not in "absolute decentralization" but in creating an open, permissionless financial experimental field. Appropriate centralization can protect users, developers, and investors. Decentralization is a goal, not a starting point. Currently, Cetus is negotiating with the hacker, offering to let them keep approximately $6 million in ETH if the stolen assets are returned.

Regarding the issue of decentralization, Raccoon believes that Sui is not Ethereum, and its underlying genes come from Meta's Libra, so the requirements for decentralization are different. He points out that such coordination behaviors still differ from centralized database "rollbacks," and as long as they are handled properly, with good public relations and transparent procedures, they can still be understood and accepted by the community. Sui must be more decentralized than BNB Chain, but does not need to reach the completely "world computer" level of faith-based goals.

(Sui/Cetus Ecological Crisis and Currency Price Observation: From Hard Injuries to Resilience, 7 Perspectives at a Glance)

Risk Warning

Cryptocurrency investment carries high risks, and prices may fluctuate dramatically. You may lose all of your principal. Please carefully assess the risks.

Recently, the Sui ecosystem has experienced significant fluctuations, drawing industry attention to its sustainability and governance model. Well-known blockchain observer Raccoon Chan has published a 7-point in-depth analysis of Sui and the hacked protocol Cetus, addressing ecosystem confidence and culture, and not shying away from practical views on currency prices.

Top-Tier Resource Management: Sui Team's Token Governance Strategy

Raccoon Chan believes that the Sui team has demonstrated precise resource allocation capabilities since the Token Generation Event (TGE). They do not over-distribute incentives, nor do they let the ecosystem fall into famine. Binance, which provides listing services, cannot gain too much control, showing Sui's rare balanced governance ability. Compared to Ethereum or Solana, Sui has more favorable negotiation results in managing native stablecoins and cross-chain bridge protocols, which is a manifestation of its relative advantages.

Ecosystem Impact: Expansion Slows Down, Strategy Turns Conservative

Despite Sui's strong token operations, recent negative events have caused substantial damage to its ecosystem. Native projects have begun to adopt conservative strategies, with potential new projects showing hesitation or even halting expansion. This will affect the quantity and quality of "catalysts" in the overall ecosystem, making potentially innovative collaborations seem increasingly distant.

(Water Family Sheds Tears! Sui's Main DEX Cetus Loses Over $260 Million, Evaporating 83% TVL)

Ecosystem Remains Intact, Still Cohesive

Despite being wounded, Raccoon Chan emphasizes that this is not a fatal injury. After personally visiting Sui's Basecamp, he believes the local environment still maintains a healthy organizational atmosphere with no obvious signs of corruption. Especially for many developers from other Move public chains, Sui might be the last remaining safe haven, making a collective "Dunkirk retreat" unlikely.

Main Course Still $SUI, Price Impact Limited

From a currency price perspective, Sui's main focus remains $SUI itself, rather than its ecosystem projects. The impact of this event on token fundamentals is controllable. Similar to the unprecedented winter BSC once experienced, as long as core resources (such as Binance Launchpad) are not problematic, the currency price fundamentals will not be fatally affected.

Ecological Culture Test: Will the Community Stand Up?

The Sui community is facing an opportunity to establish a mutual support culture. For the victims of the Cetus incident, some suggest emulating Solana's $BONK airdrop and community fundraising model to consolidate community identity through asset distribution and traffic diversion. The good news is that no projects have blatantly kicked people while they are down, indicating that previous ecosystem team-building efforts have been effective.

Rejecting Extortionate Speculation: How Can Investors and Project Parties Build Trust?

Raccoon Chan criticized some people's emotional blackmail tactics towards speculators who buy tokens during a sharp decline, even viewing them as accomplices to hackers. He argues that project parties should demonstrate sincerity and transparency, establishing a mutual trust mechanism with speculators, rather than simply imposing responsibility or moral constraints on others. In other words, stable token prices and ecosystem construction should be driven by cooperation and commitment, not emotional blackmail.

Decentralization or Coordinativism? The Positioning Dialectic of Sui

Facing recent controversies involving asset freezing, Raccoon believes Sui is not Ethereum, as its underlying genes come from Meta's Libra, so the requirements for decentralization are different. He points out that such coordinating behaviors still differ from centralized database "rollbacks", and as long as they are handled properly, with public relations follow-up and transparent procedures, they can still be understood and accepted by the community. Sui must be more decentralized than BNB Chain, but does not need to reach the faith-based goal of a complete "world computer".

Price Observation: Difficult to Surge Short-term, Psychological Anchor Already Planted

Finally, Raccoon expressed a cautiously optimistic view on the $SUI price. He does not believe there will be massive selling pressure, but also does not expect a dramatic rise in the short term. The reason is that the market psychology has been anchored to a price around "4 dollars", and removing this perception will take time, not just driven by positive news or narratives. developments. New buying orders, even minor selling for covering expenses, might lead to a gradual downward trend.

Risk Warning

Cryptocurrency investment carries high risks, and prices may fluctuate dramatically. You may lose all your your principal. Please carefully assess the risks.

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Disclaimer: The content above is only the author's opinion which does not represent any position of Followin, and is not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as, investment advice from Followin.
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