What Is Sui (SUI)? The Ultimate Guide to the Sui Network

New crypto projects pop up all the time, each trying to solve problems like speed, scalability, or cost issues of the Ethereum blockchain. Some are simple to use, while others are built for dapps or games. Sui is a similar layer-1 blockchain with a unique “Move” programming language.

In this guide, we will review what Sui crypto is, how it works, its working architecture, its use cases, and how it competes with other blockchains.

What is Sui?

Sui is a layer-1 blockchain built for speed, scalability, and low-cost transactions. It launched its mainnet on May 3, 2023. Unlike Ethereum or Bitcoin, which process everything in a single line, Sui processes transactions in parallel. This means it can handle many tasks at once, making it super quick – up to 300,000 transactions per second (theoretically).

The blockchain runs on a delegated proof-of-stake system, so people can stake their SUI with validators to earn rewards. Sui also uses the Move programming language, which started at Meta. Move keeps smart contracts safe by stopping errors like double-spending. Another cool feature is its object-centric model. This treats assets like NFTs or tokens as objects with their own rules, making them easier to manage.

Transaction fees stay low – often less than a cent. The network hit a peak of 9,029 transactions per second in July 2023, showing it can handle real-world use. Sui aims to bring Web3 to billions of people, focusing on fast, cheap, and secure digital ownership for things like games, payments, and social platforms.

Who created Sui? A brief history of the Sui team

Sui was created by Mysten Labs, a company started in 2021 by five ex-Meta engineers. The team includes Evan Cheng, Sam Blackshear, Adeniyi Abiodun, George Danezis, and Kostas Chalkias. They worked together at Meta’s Novi division, building the Diem blockchain and Move language before Meta shut it down.

• Evan Cheng leads as CEO. He spent over 10 years at Apple and Facebook, focusing on tech platforms. 
• Sam Blackshear, the CTO, invented Move while at Novi, bringing his coding skills to Sui. 
• Adeniyi Abiodun, the CPO, led product teams at Oracle and VMware before joining Meta. 
• George Danezis, Chief Scientist, teaches security at University College London and has 20 years of experience. 
• Kostas Chalkias, Chief Cryptographer, worked on cryptography at Meta and R3. 

Mysten Labs raised $36 million in December 2021 from Andreessen Horowitz and others. Later, in September 2022, they got $300 million more from investors like FTX Ventures and Binance Labs, valuing the company at $2 billion.

How does Sui work?

Sui works as a layer-1 blockchain designed for speed and efficiency. It processes transactions differently from older blockchains like Bitcoin. Instead of lining up every transaction in one slow chain, Sui sorts them into two types: simple and complex. 

Simple ones, like sending SUI tokens, get handled instantly by validators without waiting for the whole network to agree. Complex ones, like smart contracts, use a consensus system but still move fast.

Let’s explain its core working concepts:

1. Move programming language

Sui uses the Move programming language to create secure and flexible smart contracts. Move was originally built by Meta for the Diem blockchain, but Sui adapted it for its needs. 

The language treats everything as objects, like tokens or NFTs, with clear rules about who owns them and how they can change. This makes it harder for developers to accidentally introduce bugs or security flaws, unlike Ethereum’s Solidity. 

Move also supports programmable transaction blocks, letting users bundle up to 1024 actions into one transaction. This cuts costs and speeds things up. For example, a game developer can update multiple player assets in a single move.

2. Parallel transaction execution

Sui executes transactions in parallel to boost speed and capacity. Most blockchains process transactions one after another, which slows things down as demand grows. Sui looks at each transaction’s objects – like a coin or an NFT – and checks if they overlap. 

Transactions that don’t affect the same objects run at the same time across different validators. This is possible because Sui’s object-centric model tracks dependencies clearly. 

In tests with 50 nodes, Sui hit over 300,000 tps without clogging up. Simple transfers finish almost instantly, while complex ones, like trading on a shared pool, still process quickly. This parallel setup means Sui can handle more users and apps without slowing down.

3. Object-centric model

Sui’s object-centric model changes how data works on a blockchain. Unlike Ethereum’s account-based system, where balances update in one big ledger, Sui treats everything as an object with its own details and ownership. 

A token, an NFT, or a smart contract is an object that can be moved or changed independently. This makes tracking easier and cuts the need for constant network-wide updates. 

Objects fall into two types: single-owner, handled quickly without consensus, and shared, needing validator agreement. This split lets Sui process unrelated transactions at the same time. The model also simplifies sharding – splitting data for efficiency – since objects don’t need global sync. In practice, this helps Sui scale and keeps fees under $0.01, even during busy periods.

4. Consensus mechanism: Narwhal & Bullshark

Sui’s consensus uses Narwhal and Bullshark to balance speed and reliability. Narwhal acts as a mempool, collecting transactions and organizing them into a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). 

This setup lets validators share data quickly without waiting for a strict order. Bullshark then decides the final order for transactions that need it, like those involving shared objects. It uses Byzantine Fault Tolerance to ensure agreement, even if some validators fail. 

Simple transactions bypass this and settle in under a second. Together, they push Sui’s throughput past 300,000 tps in tests, with latency around 2 seconds for complex cases. This duo makes Sui robust and quick, handling faults while keeping the network decentralized through its Delegated Proof-of-Stake validators.

5. Horizontal scalability

Sui scales horizontally, meaning it grows stronger as more resources join in. Traditional blockchains struggle when busy because every node processes every transaction. 

Sui spreads the work across validators, and adding more machines boosts capacity. Each validator can handle multiple tasks at once, thanks to parallel execution and the object-centric model. If demand doubles, validators can add workers – extra computers – to keep up.

Storage scales with a fund redistributing fees to cover costs. This flexibility means Sui can support massive apps, like gaming or finance, without hitting a ceiling, unlike chains limited by fixed designs.

The Sui Token and Sui Airdrop

The Sui blockchain has its own token called SUI. The total supply of SUI is fixed at 10 billion tokens. This cap aims to keep the token’s value stable over time. 

Sui launched its mainnet on May 3, 2023, and some tokens became available then, while others will unlock gradually until 2030. The current market cap of SUI tokens is over $7.8 billion and ranks among the top 20 cryptocurrencies.

Sui’s team, Mysten Labs, decided against airdrop marketing. Sui confirmed in April 2023 that no airdrop would happen. Instead, they focused on a Community Access Program. 

This program lets early supporters, like testers and Discord members who joined before February 1, 2023, buy SUI tokens at $0.03 each during a sale on exchanges like OKX, KuCoin, and Bybit.

Tokenomics

Sui’s tokenomics explains how SUI tokens are distributed and managed. The total supply is 10 billion tokens, and this number won’t change. At launch in May 2023, only about 5% of the tokens, around 528 million, were circulating. 

Today, the circulating supply has grown to roughly 3.08 billion, according to live data from CoinMarketCap. The rest are locked and will be released over time until 2030. 

Here’s the breakdown of the initial plan:

• Community Reserve (50% or 5 billion SUI): Managed by the Sui Foundation, this chunk funds grants, research, and validator rewards. It releases slowly to support the network long-term.
• Early Contributors (20% or 2 billion SUI): This goes to Mysten Labs’ team and early workers. Most of it is locked and vests monthly until 2030.
• Investors (14% or 1.4 billion SUI): Big backers like Andreessen Horowitz and Binance Labs got these. They’re also locked, unlocking gradually.
• Community Sale and Launchpool (6% or 594 million SUI): Sold to early supporters and exchange users in 2023.
• Treasury (10% or 1 billion SUI): Held for future use, like emergencies or extra funding.

Utility of SUI: What are SUI Tokens Used for?

SUI tokens are the backbone of the Sui blockchain, handling multiple roles to keep the network running smoothly. They let users pay for services, stake to secure the system, and even vote on its future.

• Gas fees: SUI tokens pay for gas fees, which are the costs of processing transactions on the Sui network. Every action, like sending tokens or running a smart contract, uses a small amount of SUI—often less than $0.01—because of Sui’s efficient design.
• Staking & security: You can stake SUI tokens to help secure the network through a Delegated Proof-of-Stake system.
• Governance: SUI holders can use their tokens to vote on changes to the network, shaping its rules and upgrades. This governance power is tied to staking, so those with more SUI locked up have a bigger say.
• DeFi & liquidity: SUI tokens fuel decentralized finance (DeFi) on Sui, letting users trade, lend, or provide liquidity in pools. Platforms like Cetus use SUI for swaps and staking.
• NFTs & gaming: SUI powers NFTs and gaming on the blockchain thanks to its object-centric model and low fees. Developers mint and trade unique digital items – like art or game assets – using SUI, with transactions settling in under a second. 

Sui vs Aptos vs Movement: Comparison

	Sui	Aptos	Movement
Layer	Layer 1	Layer 1	Layer 2 (Ethereum-based)
Architecture	DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph)	Linear Blockchain	Linear Blockchain
Consensus Mechanism	Mysticeti (DAG-based BFT)	AptosBFT	Snowman (Avalanche-based)
Programming Language	Move (Sui Variant)	Move (Aptos Variant)	Move (Aptos-focused)
Time to Finality (TTF)	0.5 seconds	0.9 seconds	~1 second
Transactions per Second (TPS)	300,000 (theoretical)	160,000 (theoretical)	30,000 (theoretical)
Parallel Execution	Object-centric (State Access)	Block-STM (Optimistic)	Block-STM (Optimistic)

How to Buy Sui: Step-by-step

We recommend using Binance to buy Sui (SUI) due to its low fees, high security, and direct support for SUI trading pairs like SUI/USDT and SUI/BTC. Here’s how to do it.

1. Create a Binance Account: Visit the Binance website and register with your email or phone number, then set a password. Complete the identity verification (KYC) process by submitting ID documents as required.
2. Deposit Funds: Now, navigate to “Wallet” then “Fiat and Spot”. Deposit funds using either fiat currency like USD through a bank transfer or credit/debit card, or send crypto such as BTC, ETH, or USDT from another wallet, following the on-screen instructions.
3. Buy Sui (SUI): Go to “Trade” and select “Spot”. Search for the SUI trading pair, such as SUI/USDT, and choose a market order to buy instantly at the current price or a limit order to set your desired price. Enter the amount you want to spend, starting at a $10 minimum, and confirm the purchase. Your SUI will appear in your Spot Wallet.

How Do I Store Sui?

You can store SUI tokens on a dedicated Sui network software wallet like Sui Wallet or Trust Wallet. You can also use hardware wallets like Ledger Nano X to store SUI with offline security.

After downloading the Sui Wallet from the Chrome Web Store, install it and create a new wallet, saving the 12-word seed phrase offline and setting a strong password. To transfer SUI from Binance, go to “Wallet”, select “Withdraw”, choose SUI, and enter your Sui Wallet address (copied from the wallet) along with the amount.

How to use the Sui Wallet?

• Send/Receive SUI: To send SUI, click “Send”, enter the recipient’s SUI address and the amount, then confirm with your password; gas fees are minimal, around $0.001 per transaction. To receive SUI, copy your wallet address from the “Assets” section and share it with the sender.
• Stake SUI: In the “Earn” tab, select a validator from the list based on APR (typically 7-10%), enter the amount of SUI to stake, and confirm. Rewards are earned in SUI and can be claimed periodically.
• Explore Ecosystem: Use the “Apps” tab to connect to Sui dApps like DeFi platforms or NFT marketplaces, such as swapping tokens on Cetus Protocol.

Best DEXes, Bridges, and DApps on Sui

The best DEXes on the Sui blockchain are:

DEX Name	# Coins / # Pairs	Trading Pair with
Cetus	86 / 526	USDC
Bluefin	17 / 31	SUI
Turbos Finance	57 / 97	USDC
FlowX Finance	10 / 52	SUI
Kriya	5 / 7	USDCET

The best bridges on the Sui network are Sui Bridge, Wormhole, Portal, Router Nitro, Axelar, and OmniBTC. These bridges are good in enabling secure, efficient cross-chain asset transfers to and from Sui, enhancing interoperability with networks like Ethereum and Solana.

The best DApps on the Sui network are Cetus, DeepBook, NAVI, Kriya, Turbos Finance, and Aftermath Finance. These DApps stand out for their innovative DeFi solutions, offering high-performance trading, lending, and liquidity provision on Sui’s scalable blockchain.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, Sui crypto offers an exciting option for investors and blockchain users in 2025. Its fast network, handling up to 300,000 transactions per second, makes it stand out from other blockchains. 

Popular DApps like Cetus and DeepBook are building on Sui, which could drive its value higher. Sui might not be the next Solana yet, but its unique features make it worth watching.

FAQs

Is sui crypto a good investment?

Sui crypto is a good investment due to its high-performance Layer 1 blockchain, designed for speed and scalability. The network supports a growing ecosystem of decentralized applications (DApps) like Cetus and NAVI, which could drive future value. Investors are drawn to its ability to process up to 300,000 transactions per second theoretically, making it competitive in the blockchain space. 

How much is 1 sui in dollars?

1 Sui (SUI) is worth approximately $2.57 in US dollars (at the time of writing). This price is based on real-time data from CoinMarketCap.

Is Sui the next Solana?

Sui is often compared to Solana because both are high-speed Layer 1 blockchains built for scalability and low-cost transactions. Sui’s current price is $2.57 with a $7.8 billion market cap, while Solana’s market cap is significantly higher, often exceeding $50 billion. 

Sui uses a unique object-centric model and Mysticeti consensus, achieving a theoretical 300,000 TPS compared to Solana’s 65,000 TPS claim. Both networks aim to support mass adoption of DApps, but Sui is newer, with its mainnet live since 2023, while Solana has a more established ecosystem. Sui’s growth potential is promising, but it lacks Solana’s broader adoption and developer base as of now.

How is Sui different from other blockchains?

Sui stands out from other blockchains due to its Layer 1 design, which uses a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) architecture instead of a traditional linear chain. This allows Sui to process transactions in parallel. 

Unlike Ethereum or Bitcoin, which rely on sequential processing, Sui’s object-centric model tracks individual assets, improving efficiency for DApps. Its Mysticeti consensus mechanism is a variation of Byzantine Fault Tolerance, optimized for speed and low fees, around $0.001 per transaction.

What is Sui’s price prediction?

Predicting Sui’s price is challenging due to the cryptocurrency market volatility, but analysts provide some insights. Some forecasts suggest Sui could reach $5-$7 by the end of 2025 if its ecosystem grows and adoption increases.