The Logic Behind the Value Elevation of the SUI Public Chain

With the continuous evolution of the Web3 technology stack, smart contract languages are migrating from the Ethereum-dominated Solidity to the more secure and resource-abstracting Move language. The Move language was originally developed by Meta for its cryptocurrency project Diem and features resources as first-class citizens and ease of formal verification, gradually becoming an important choice for the underlying architecture of the new generation of public blockchains.

In this evolutionary context, Aptos and SUI have become the dual core representatives of the Move ecosystem. Aptos was launched by the original Diem core team, Aptos Labs, continuing the native Move technology stack, emphasizing stability, security, and a modular architecture. On the other hand, SUI was built by Mysten Labs, which, while inheriting the Move security model, introduced object-oriented data structures and parallel execution mechanisms, forming the SUI Move branch that features significant performance breakthroughs and innovative development paradigms, reconstructing on-chain resource management and transaction execution models. SUI does not merely pursue high TPS; rather, it fundamentally redefines how blockchains operate. This makes SUI not only powerful in performance but also a leader in paradigms, providing an ideal technological foundation for complex on-chain interactions and large-scale Web3 applications.

1. Reshaping the Public Chain Landscape

After entering the Firedancer era, Solana's performance curve may remain leading, but it still follows the paradigm of "single-chain high-frequency trading." SUI, on the other hand, tries to address needs beyond performance through horizontal stacking and end-to-end privacy/storage. This significantly differentiates it from Aptos (also Move, but still one-dimensional scalability) or Sei (special chain, liquidity depth concentration). For investment institutions, this means:

• If you value high TPS and continuous transaction fees, Solana and dedicated chains may offer quicker returns.
• If you value "new type applications" and horizontal interface control, the potential of SUI comes from the unsaturated SaaS/privacy/offline track.
• Aptos and SUI have significant overlap in DeFi and BTCFi, and caution is needed regarding the risk of competition in the sector.

Compared to Solana, SUI uses the more secure Move language, avoiding the vulnerabilities caused by Solana's Rust+Sealevel parallel processing, and has lower hardware requirements, resulting in lower costs for validation nodes, which is beneficial for decentralization. In terms of performance, both are comparable, with Solana having slightly higher TPS, while SUI has lower confirmation latency. In terms of ecology, Solana has more projects and users, focusing on complex DeFi, while SUI is growing faster, and user activity once reached parity, differentiating itself through new areas such as BTCFi and LSD.

Compared to Aptos, SUI has developed its ecosystem faster over the past year, with higher user and developer activity than Aptos. SUI's object model is more efficient, has diverse positioning, and user growth is rapid. In terms of incentives, although there are no airdrops, the foundation provides substantial support, with monthly active addresses and on-chain transaction volumes both surpassing Aptos.

Compared to Sei, SUI follows a general L1 route, supporting diverse applications and has stronger risk resistance. Although Sei has high short-term popularity, its ecological development is limited, making it difficult to form a complete ecosystem. SUI excels in cross-chain compatibility and language advantages.

Compared to Ethereum L2, SUI has advantages in ultra-low latency and high concurrency, making it suitable for applications such as high TPS games. On the other hand, Ethereum L2 benefits from strong network effects and security endorsements. In the long run, the two may coexist, while in the short term, it depends on who can better meet the application needs.

2. Ecological Data Shines

Since the SUI mainnet launched in May 2023, user growth has been exponential. By April 2025, over 123 million user addresses had been created on the SUI blockchain, nearing the cumulative address count of established public chains like Tron. In the second half of 2024, the average monthly active addresses on SUI was around 10 million; starting from mid-February 2025, this metric experienced a dramatic surge, steadily exceeding 40 million by mid-April, more than quadrupling the monthly activity.

In terms of new users, a "turning point" is expected by the end of 2024, with the average daily new wallet addresses rising from 150,000 to a sustained level of over 1 million thereafter. As of November 2024, approximately $944.8 million has been bridged into SUI. By mid-2025, the total locked value (bridged TVL) across SUI is expected to be around $2.55 billion.

The supply of SUI ecosystem stablecoins has also risen significantly: In mid-April 2025, the market value of SUI stablecoins reached a historic high of over 800 million USD. In terms of the composition of stablecoins, USDC remains the absolute leader, with a market share consistently above 60%. USDT was also issued on SUI at the end of 2024, maintaining a certain level of activity.

Although it still lags behind Solana in terms of throughput, SUI has fully covered high-frequency scenarios such as on-chain order book DEX, real-time PvP, and social interaction. With the subsequent upgrade of Mahi-Mahi targeting >400,000 TPS, SUI is continuously solidifying its scalability moat.

Currently, the SUI ecological data is very impressive:

1. The resilience of the capital structure is forming. The steady-state TVL in Q2 2025 is approximately 1.6~1.8B USD, with stablecoins + LSD accounting for about 55%, which can be retained even without incentive subsidies. The proportion of institutional address holdings has increased from 6% to 14%, indicating that funds are more concentrated yet more active.

2. The developer retention rate is higher than that of peer public chains. The 24-month continuity rate (developers continuously submitting on GitHub for two years) for SUI is 37%, higher than Aptos's 31% and Sei's 18%.

3. The user structure is bimodal (DeFi + content entertainment), driving the diversification of on-chain interactions. DeFi contracts account for about 49% of on-chain calls; content applications such as FanTV, RECRD, and Pebble City contribute approximately 35% of the call volume.

4. BTCFi is developing rapidly. By March 2025, the amount of BTCFi locked on the SUI chain will exceed 1000 BTC; in April, BTC-related assets will account for 10% of the total TVL of SUI, including forms such as wBTC, LBTC, and stBTC.

5. There is huge potential in the two major areas of RWA and native derivatives. In terms of RWA, Seal/Nautilus provides compliant privacy + verifiable computing, making it an ideal platform for issuing bonds and fund shares. In the area of native perpetual/options, the current on-chain Perp OI is approximately 20m, indicating a growth potential of 10 times.

3. Key Ecological Forces

The rapid rise of the SUI ecosystem is inseparable from the catalysis and empowerment of strategic capital. OKX Ventures, as one of the earliest discoverers and strategic co-builders of the SUI ecosystem, strategically invested in multiple core projects such as Cetus, Navi, Momentum, and Haedal at the early stages of the SUI mainnet launch. These projects cover key DeFi sectors like DEX, lending, and liquid staking, laying the foundation for the subsequent explosive growth of SUI's financial ecosystem.

The investment by the SUI Foundation and Mysten Labs at the infrastructure layer has also laid a deep competitive barrier for the ecosystem. Mysten raised over $300 million for SUI development from 2023 to 2024, with a significant portion directed towards the research and development of "thick infrastructure" such as Walrus, Seal, and Nautilus. This strategic choice first addresses the shortcomings at the underlying layer, and then stimulates application innovation through grants and hackathons.

4. From "Fastest L1" to "Programmable Internet Stack"

SUI is transitioning from a "high-performance parallel chain" to a "global coordination layer" positioning. The team aims to incorporate traditional internet components (computing power, storage, identity, liquidity, privacy computation) into the same native protocol stack, allowing each layer to be accessed and utilized by external applications.

Currently, the infrastructure of SUI has entered the production phase, including the Mysticeti consensus engine, DeepBook public matching layer, SuiNS identity layer, Walrus native storage, Seal secret management service, and Nautilus verifiable computing, among others. These capabilities open up multiple growth directions for SUI, including Web2 SaaS migration, offline networks and extreme scenario applications, as well as verifiable reasoning in blockchain × AI.

In terms of technological progress, the SUI ecosystem continues to improve, with breakthroughs in fundamental consensus, protocol upgrades, development experience, and user tools. In terms of ecological components, SUI has built a full-stack architecture that encompasses storage, encryption, and privacy computing. In terms of security governance, SUI demonstrates rapid response capabilities, such as the efficient handling after the Cetus theft incident.

These developments indicate that SUI is shifting from the narrative of being the "fastest L1" high-performance chain to a higher positioning of being a "programmable internet stack," providing comprehensive support for the large-scale application of Web3.