The Sui crypto market faces major difficulties because its native token, SUI, dropped below its $3.50 support threshold to trade at $3.47. The Sui network hack on Cetus Protocol represents one of the most significant decentralized finance (DeFi) breaches of the year and has initiated this downturn. The attack on the Sui network has deeply shaken investor trust and caused a significant change in market sentiment about the Sui ecosystem.
The network experienced a powerful rally, which pushed SUI to peak at approximately $4.29 on May 12, thanks to its growing real-world asset tokenization appeal and institutional interest. The Sui network experienced a severe trajectory change after the devastating Cetus Protocol exploit compromised its essential component. The attack caused the price to fall by almost 14%, resulting in a 20% decline from its highest monthly value.
Immediate Aftermath: Analyzing the $223 Million DeFi Breach
The $223 million Sui network hack on Cetus Protocol resulted in a $223 million financial catastrophe throughout the ecosystem. The Cetus Protocol exploit caused SUI’s value to drop while simultaneously removing $11 million of liquidity from essential trading pairs like SUI/USDC. The depletion of liquidity triggered extensive instability throughout the ecosystem.
cetus protocol got hacked for $223M, the largest exploit on sui network ever
— Abhi (@0xAbhiP) May 26, 2025
here’s exactly how it went down and what’s happening now
→ hack details
> attacker exploited a critical math vulnerability in cetus’ smart contract
> specifically a faulty “safe math” function… pic.twitter.com/l1POxHFUSV
The Total Value Locked (TVL) of the network experienced a swift decline from $2.13 billion to $1.54 billion within just a few days, showing a drastic drop in both network health and user engagement. The remarkable decrease highlights the swift depletion of user trust and financial resources after the security compromise. SUI briefly surpassed $3.50 but has failed to hold this essential level since then.
SUI Token Price: Navigating Volatility and Market Signals
Technical analysis of the SUI token price reveals a challenging scenario because of a bearish engulfing candle combined with a long-tailed Doji, which indicates uncertainty in market sentiment. The recent price fall under $3.50 demonstrates a halt in the short-term bullish trend. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) shows neutrality while MACD displays bearish histograms, but long-term indicators such as the 50-, 100-, and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) continue to indicate buy signals.
The derivatives market displays increased speculative interest as Sui trading volume increased by 40%, reaching $3.57 billion. The slight drop in open interest indicates that traders are closing positions to take profits, but the increasing OI-weighted funding rate suggests that the market remains bullish. The fact that short liquidations exceed long positions shows traders are preparing for a potential market upturn amidst ongoing volatility.
Sui Network Recovery Efforts and Centralization Debates
Following the recent Sui network hack, which caused significant issues, the Sui network has started to demonstrate foundational recovery signs. The network now maintains $1.68 billion in Total Value Locked and saw daily DEX volume grow from $178 million to almost $272 million. Sui’s stablecoin supply maintains a strong presence with a market capitalization above $1 billion, indicating ongoing on-chain liquidity and user activity.
The crisis response by the network triggered extensive public debate. Sui validators managed to immobilize $162 million of stolen funds through blacklisting the attacker’s wallet. The recovery action shows a surprising level of centralized control, which conflicts with Layer 1 blockchain systems’ decentralized principles and creates enduring trust issues.
A Pivotal Moment: The Future of the Sui Ecosystem
The SUI token price approaches a decisive point in its future performance. The SUI token price recovery depends on reestablishing essential support levels while restoring positive investor sentiment and managing potential market manipulations. Analysts who support asset accumulation to reach the $4.20 point out that the current high liquidity environment indicates the possibility of substantial market volatility and deceptive price movements in either direction.
Although the network demonstrated its resilience previously, the price remaining under $3.50 along with ongoing doubts after the significant Sui network hack requires close analysis of technical indicators and assessment of how the ecosystem responds to essential trust and decentralization issues.
