Multiple liquidity pools across various tokens on the Sui blockchain were emptied on July 11, raising concerns among the community over an alleged backdoor exploit. The affected pools were mainly associated with BlueMove, a decentralized exchange operating within the Sui ecosystem.
Community accuses BlueMove of draining pools
Tyler Simpson, founder of Quantum Void Labs, expressed alarm over the incident and actively called attention to the situation on social media platforms, posting under the username @quantumvoidlabs. He reported that BlueMove had withdrawn the total value locked in every single liquidity pool on the exchange, placing the estimated loss at more than 700,000 SUI. Simpson described the aftermath as “charts are destroyed, pools drained entirely.”
Later, Simpson elaborated that all tokens launched via BlueMove and its MovePump Launchpad were affected, with each pool’s balance reduced to zero dollars. He also emphasized that the losses targeted meme coins and smaller projects that used the MovePump bonding curve contract for establishing liquidity.
In the hours preceding the event, Simpson had already accused BlueMove of draining pools that platforms and communities believed to be locked.
All tokens on BlueMove DEX—any token launched on MovePump Launchpad—were affected, and every pool’s liquidity was drained to $0, according to Simpson.
Mini dictionary: Sui blockchain, an emerging layer-1 blockchain that aims to deliver high throughput and low latency for decentralized applications, is developed by Mysten Labs as a competitor to networks like Solana.
Onchain evidence and responses
Defimon Alerts, an account specializing in blockchain monitoring, observed an onchain message referencing a drained BlueMove pool with an estimated value of $400,000. The note proposed a “white hat” resolution, suggesting the responsible party keep 30 percent as a bounty and return the remaining 70 percent within 48 hours to a listed Sui address. The sender warned that legal action and recovery processes would commence if the request was not met.
The onchain message read, “You drained the BlueMove DEX pool (~$400k). Keep 30% as a white hat bounty and return 70% within 48h to our Sui address…”
Other community members noted similar trends. The X user @saksidasaksi reported that BlueMove was actively removing liquidity pools from its platform and highlighted that Beeg Blue Whale, a project reliant on the MovePump contract, experienced a drastic decline in available liquidity. The same observer claimed that BlueMove “stopped development a long time ago” and was now stripping liquidity from projects under the impression their tokens were secure.
Backdoor allegations and project history
Simpson claimed that BlueMove itself introduced a backdoor mechanism through a package upgrade executed on May 31. He stated the upgrade was performed by the party holding the upgrade cap—the authority within Sui smart contract management that controls contract modifications. Simpson described a new function for returning added liquidity and a double-minting mechanism that inflated LP tokens. This upgrade was made immutable immediately afterward, effectively locking the changes in place. Defimon Alerts echoed these concerns, highlighting that reports of a backdoor had surfaced along with varying loss estimates between $400,000 and $550,000, in addition to the 700,000 SUI reported by Simpson.
BlueMove’s recent activity follows a pattern seen in August 2023, when the project discontinued operations on the Sei Network due to unsatisfactory trading volumes and asked users to delist NFTs within 72 hours. The team has not publicly responded to the latest allegations as of publication time.
Simpson also criticized the broader Sui environment, claiming that mainnet developer Mysten Labs and the Sui Foundation had marginalized projects, leaving only a select few such as WAL and DEEP.
In his latest thread, Simpson suggested he had previously warned Sui network stakeholders about possible risks with BlueMove on three occasions.
BlueMove is a decentralized exchange built on the Sui blockchain and has offered various DeFi protocols and a launchpad service for Sui-based tokens since its inception.
As the situation unfolds, no official statement or remediation plan has been issued by BlueMove regarding the allegations or the losses incurred.
