SUI Slides as $116M DeFi Exploit Rattles Crypto Markets

Core Insights - SUI, the native token of the Sui blockchain, experienced a significant decline of 9.2% to $2.02 after breaching critical support levels, leading to increased technical selling and failed recovery attempts [1] - The decline was exacerbated by a $116 million exploit involving the DeFi protocol Balancer, which negatively impacted market sentiment [1] Market Activity - Investors began to reduce exposure to riskier layer-1 tokens, with SUI showing signs of institutional liquidation, as indicated by CoinDesk Research's technical analysis [2] - During the sell-off, approximately 42.6 million SUI tokens were traded, representing a 68% increase over the daily average trading volume [2] Technical Analysis - The previous support level of $2.08 has now become a resistance level, with multiple failed attempts to bounce back reinforcing a bearish trend [3] - As of U.S. morning hours, SUI was trading around $2.02 in low-volume conditions, indicating traders were preparing for the next significant market movement [3] Price Projections - Technical analysts observed classic capitulation behavior, including a rapid one-hour price drop followed by lower highs and tight consolidation [4] - If SUI falls below $2.014, technical targets suggest potential declines to $1.98 or even $1.95, while bulls need to reclaim $2.07 to regain upward momentum [4] - The CoinDesk 5 Index, which tracks the largest cryptocurrencies, also fell by 1.15% on the same day, with all constituents experiencing losses [4]