Sui, a popular layer 1 network, has become one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies since August, soaring to a five-month high.

Sui (SUI) token has risen for three consecutive weeks and is up by over 240% from its lowest level in August, giving it a market cap of over $4.17 billion. 

1. DeFi ecosystem is growing

Sui, often seen as a Solana (SOL) rival, has performed well due to its growing popularity among users and developers. Third-party data shows that the total value locked in its decentralized finance ecosystem has jumped to a record high of $860 million, up from $383 million in August.

Some of the most notable Sui dApps that have seen a jump in assets are Suilend, Scallop Lend, and Cetus, which have accumulated assets worth over $137 million. 

Sui has also attracted stablecoins worth $378 million, a number that will likely rise now that it has activated Circle’s USD Coin. 

🚨 BREAKING: @Circle’s native $USDC is coming soon to Sui 🎉Additionally, Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (#CCTP) will be launching on Sui, enabling developers to be able to build cross-chain flows from other chains (like @Solana, @Ethereum, and more).💥This is huge for the Sui… https://t.co/klxqurAt3U pic.twitter.com/iamcolqqfK

— Sui (@SuiNetwork) September 17, 2024

Additionally, Sui’s decentralized exchanges are seeing increased activity, mostly due to their low fees. Its volume rose by 50% in the last seven days to $428 million, making it the 9th biggest chain in the industry. It has overtaken some popular blockchains like Tron (TRX) and Avalanche (AVAX).

This ecosystem growth has led to more transactions in the network. According to Suiscan, the number of transactions has grown to over 548,000, the highest level since May. Its six-month transactions have risen by 21% to 1.91 billion.

2. Sui is becoming a big player in gaming

Meanwhile, Sui is positioning itself as a major player in the blockchain gaming industry, which is often seen as a key use case for blockchain technology.

The developers have launched several gaming tools like zkLogin, which helps onboard gamers easily. It also features a kiosk that lets developers set custom trading policies. Other top features include closed-loop tokens and parallel transaction processing.

Most notably, the developers are taking pre-orders for a gaming console that will have some blockchain features. During the pre-order process, users will create a new wallet that will hold a unique NFT upon delivery of the device.

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Further, Sui has seen a surge in futures open interest, which soared to a record high of $453 million on Sept. 20.

Sui futures open interest | Source: CoinGlass 3. Sui has strong technicals Solana price chart | Source: TradingView

Sui has also jumped due to its strong technicals. The comeback started on Aug. 5, with the formation of a small hammer candlestick—a popular reversal sign in price action analysis.

Sui has crossed the 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which are about to form a golden cross, often a bullish indicator. The Average Directional Index has risen to 30, and the Relative Strength Index has moved to 83.

These indicators suggest that Sui has a bullish momentum, meaning it may continue rising in the near term. If this happens, the next potential level to watch will be at $2.17, its highest swing in March and 40% above the current level.

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