In the cryptocurrency field, new technologies and concepts emerge daily, and SUI, as an emerging blockchain platform, is quietly rising. While Ethereum and others face transaction congestion, high fees, and centralization risks, SUI claims to solve these issues through its unique technology. However, despite some advantages and rapid growth, it still has a lower market value compared to strong competitors like Solana, Aptos, TON, and Ethereum. What mysterious power does it possess? Can it truly emerge as a blockchain king? All of this remains uncertain.
I. The Original Intention Behind SUI's Creation
In the innovative and challenging field of cryptocurrency, Sui is like a new star quietly accumulating energy. The Mysten Labs team, while deeply researching the application and development of blockchain technology, found that many blockchain projects on the market at that time had numerous flaws in concepts or asset tokenization. For example, while Ethereum pioneered smart contracts and decentralized applications, as it scaled up, issues of transaction congestion and high fees became increasingly severe. Ordinary users find it difficult to truly enjoy the convenience and efficiency brought by blockchain technology in such circumstances. Moreover, there are centralization risks in some asset tokenization aspects. Just like in the NFT market, many creators heavily rely on centralized platforms like OpenSea to sell their works. If the platform restricts creators' transactions for any reason, the creators find themselves in trouble. Thus, Mysten Labs aimed to create Sui to build a new blockchain platform that allows ordinary consumers to easily adopt blockchain technology while solving existing problems of asset tokenization and transaction efficiency.
II. The Potential and Current Status of SUI
The SUI network has gained widespread attention in recent years. Technically, its theoretical maximum transaction processing capability is 297,000 transactions per second, a figure far exceeding Solana's 65,000 transactions, providing a significant efficiency advantage. For example, when processing a large number of concurrent transactions, SUI can respond quickly without lag, which is crucial for applications that require high-frequency trading, such as large financial trading platforms or popular games. From an ecosystem-building perspective, SUI has constructed a fairly developed DeFi system, with projects like Cetus, Scallop Lend, Deepbook, NAVI Protocol, and Aftermath++ indicating its active efforts to create a complete ecosystem. Moreover, it has received substantial capital support, successfully raising $3 billion, with a valuation reaching $30 billion. Although its current market cap is only $9 billion, it has garnered favorable attention from many investors.
III. The Technical Advantages of SUI
(1) Parallel Transaction Processing Model
Sui's parallel transaction processing model is a significant feature. Most traditional blockchain systems rely on serial processing for transactions, much like a group of people queuing to complete their business one after another, which greatly limits overall throughput. In contrast, Sui can clearly define the dependencies between transactions. For example, during a large online promotional event, multiple transactions can be processed simultaneously. According to early tests, running a Sui node on a standard MacBook Pro can handle over 120,000 transactions per second.
(2) Move Virtual Machine (Move VM)
The Move virtual machine (Move VM) used by Sui is uniquely crafted. Move, derived from the Rust language, has memory safety characteristics. For instance, regarding smart contract security vulnerabilities, Sui's customized improvements to Move outperform existing smart contract languages like Solidity in terms of performance.
(3) Sui's Object-Centric Storage Model
The model is a significant asset. Its object-oriented design ensures that each object has a stable and globally unique ID. In the context of crypto gaming, interaction with digital objects is more convenient, and this design adapts to handle complex relationships like dynamic NFTs.
IV. Problems and Pain Points Addressed by SUI
Early blockchain asset tokenization models, like those of Ethereum, have centralized drawbacks. Take NFTs, for example; on Ethereum, creators often have to rely on centralized platforms like OpenSea. There is an example of a niche NFT artist who, after gaining some popularity for their work, suddenly received a notice from OpenSea about increasing transaction fees or restricting the display of their works, which nearly slashed their creative earnings. Sui's tokenization model changes this situation, making the asset tokenization process more decentralized and secure.
V. The Influence of SUI
Currently, SUI is gradually emerging. In the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, its total locked value (TVL) has reached $1.182 billion. For instance, after a DeFi lending project chose the Sui platform, it attracted a large number of users in a short time due to Sui's low transaction costs and high concurrency processing capabilities. In the gaming sector, many developers are also building innovative game projects on Sui, enabling large numbers of players to interact online simultaneously without lag.
VI. Analysis of SUI's Competitors
(1) Solana
Solana is known for its high throughput and low transaction fees. It uses a unique Proof of History (PoH) consensus mechanism combined with Proof of Stake (PoS), enabling fast transaction confirmation speeds. However, SUI has already surpassed Solana in transaction processing capability. In terms of market value, the SUI/SOL ratio has risen by 115% since August, while the SOL/ETH ratio has only increased by 6% during the same period. Nevertheless, Solana has established a mature user base and application ecosystem.
(2) Aptos
Aptos has its unique features in optimizing smart contracts and security, and is actively expanding its ecosystem. However, based on current TVL, monthly fees, revenue, and dex trading volume, SUI has seen over 100% growth in TVL over the past two months, with most indicators outperforming Aptos. Currently, Aptos has a market cap of $3 billion and is receiving market attention, while SUI's market cap is only $900 million, suggesting it may be undervalued.
(3) TON
TON originated from Meta (formerly Facebook)'s Diem project and is defined as an ultra-fast Layer 1 blockchain designed to accommodate billions of users. However, when competing with SUI, SUI has advantages in the maturity of its ecosystem and development speed, boasting a more developed DeFi system and continuously attracting projects and investors.
(4) ETH
As a pioneer in blockchain, Ethereum has a solid foundation in smart contract development and decentralized applications. However, it faces issues of transaction congestion and high fees, while SUI, with its high performance and low fee advantages, could attract users and projects lost by Ethereum, thereby challenging its market share.
VII. The Future of SUI in 2025
Looking ahead to 2025, Sui's market performance and technological upgrades are full of infinite possibilities. In terms of market performance, if the overall cryptocurrency market is in a bull market, Sui is expected to break through $10 and even approach $12, thanks to its existing technological advantages and continuously growing ecosystem. If it continues to maintain good momentum in technological applications and ecosystem expansion, it may attract more large financial institutions to participate in the DeFi sector. For example, some traditional banks might consider piloting new cross-border payment or asset securitization projects on Sui, as they recognize Sui's efficiency and low-cost advantages.
In summary, although SUI faces many strong competitors, its technical advantages, continuously developing ecosystem, and potential for value growth give it the potential to become an industry leader. Over time, especially in 2025 and beyond, it is very likely to truly become a king in the blockchain field.