— 5 Mins to Catch Up on
@SuiNetwork
From gaming to DeFi to social, the network's quietly laying the groundwork for a fully onchain internet — one where the chain is just the start.
Here’s how Sui’s momentum is stacking up. 👇
~~ Analysis by
@davewardonline ~~
🔥 Bullish Progress
The catalysts we flagged a few months back? They’re here. From BTCfi traction to new tech rollouts, what was “coming soon” is now live.
1. BTCfi Way Up — Sui is positioning itself as the home for Bitcoin DeFi. Its MoveVM architecture appeals to
$BTC holders wary of smart contract risk. BTCfi protocols now account for 10% of Sui’s TVL. Projects like
@satlayer,
@Lombard_Finance,
@babylonlabs_io, and
@Stacks (soon) are live or on the way, with
@gonativecc, @nativerse_xyz, and
@rheifinance in the pipeline.
2. Mysticeti v2 Live — The Mysticeti v2 upgrade is live, speeding up confirmation times. Simple actions like coin transfers and NFT mints now skip full consensus, boosting throughput.
3. Walrus Mainnet — In late March,
@walrusprotocol, Sui’s chain-agnostic storage solution, launched and airdropped 4% of supply. It’s already 17.5% full (725 TB) and used by
@plumenetwork,
@linera_io,
@Claynosaurz, and Pudgy Penguins.
$WAL is up ~66%, with incentives live across Suilend,
@steammfi,
@Scallop_io, and Cetus.
4. Ika Nears Mainnet —
@ikadotxyz, a $21M-funded cross-chain protocol, lets you use BTC/ETH on other chains without moving them. It uses 2PC-MPC across hundreds of nodes, enabling secure lending, staking, and trading. Projects like
@FullSailFi,
@aeon_hq, and
@EkkoSUI are already building on it.
⚙️ Protocol Upgrades
Sui continues rolling out modular infrastructure across liquidity, storage, messaging, and privacy.
▪️ DeepBook 3.1 — Sui's orderbook engine got an upgrade.
@DeepBookonSui, its shared liquidity layer, now supports permissionless pools, lower fees, flexible fee payments, and smarter fund management with v3.1, allowing DeFi apps to access individual asset pools without bootstrapping liquidity.
▪️ SCION — SCION, a next-gen networking protocol, ensures reliable, secure communication for validators, even during DDoS attacks or internet outages. By bypassing failures and enforcing trusted paths, SCION will help keep Sui online, greatly increasing its security.
▪️ SEAL — SEAL is a programmable encryption system for smart contract-based data access, currently in testnet. It works with Walrus to support private app logic and content.
▪️ Nautilus — Also in testing, Nautilus uses TEEs to run complex operations offchain, verify them onchain, and reduce MEV — enabling private AI, data feeds, and more.
Base Layer Upgrades
• Move VM 2.0 — 30-65% faster transactions, even under heavy load.
• Remora — Allows validators to scale across machines, supporting massive growth.
• Pilotfish — Boosts parallel transaction execution by 10x, improving validator economics.
• Move Registry (MVR) — Enables simple names for smart contracts for better transparency and interoperability.
• SIP-45 — Makes MEV fairer by prioritizing transactions with higher fees to prevent front-running.
🌌 Ecosystem Updates
Sui’s DAUs have tripled over the past three months, driven by DeFi, institutions, entertainment, and gaming.
▪️ DeFi
Sui DeFi continues to grow, with total value locked (plus stables) at a new all-time high. DEX volume remains robust, as strong as or even exceeding levels seen when
$SUI was closer to its all-time highs.
DEX aggregator
@CetusProtocol leads with ~$5.5B monthly volume and ~$51.5B cumulatively. Interestingly, perps platform
@bluefinapp currently holds second place with ~$1.7B monthly volume after integrating general swaps.
Growth is also supported by Kraken’s
$USDC on Sui transfers, new bridges from
@Allbridge_io,
@axelar, and
@lifiprotocol via Jumper, and
@Phantom’s full Sui integration.
Top players:
1.
@suilendprotocol ($675M TVL) — dominates Sui's lending with 48% share, offering lending, DEX, and liquid staking. Features include a token launcher, permissionless LST creation, and fee-less borrows.
2.
@navi_protocol ($534M TVL) — leads in lending with the highest open borrows and 200% quarterly growth in its Astros aggregator.
3. Cetus ($235M TVL) — drives Sui's trading volume. It launched Auto Vault LPs and plans to expand with more third-party vaults.
▪️ Institutional
Institutional interest in Sui is also rising, with notable partnerships forming.
The Athens Stock Exchange is testing an onchain order book with Sui using zero-knowledge bidding to enhance market transparency.
Investment access is growing as Canary Capital and 21Shares file for
$SUI ETFs, with 21Shares collaborating on new products as they enter the U.S. market.
Trump-backed World Liberty Financial added Sui to its reserves (Eric Trump holds
$SUI), and
@FireblocksHQ is set to launch custody support for Sui.
▪️ Gaming & Entertainment
Entertainment and gaming use cases have been blooming on Sui with impressive traction across multiple verticals.
SocialFi platforms shine with
@RECRDapp leading Sui's apps in use, achieving ~1M daily users and 100M transactions.
@FanTV_official follows, featuring AI tools for creators, boasting 128K daily users and rewarding engagement with tokens.
@doubleup_app, a GambleFi platform via Unihouse protocol, lets users stake tokens for yields based on betting volume. After a $4M funding boost, it plans to expand into sports betting post their recent
$UP TGE.
Parasol, acquired by Mysten Labs, aids digital asset creation in traditional games. Mentioned in Pokémon HOME's privacy policy, it might introduce blockchain-based "medals," indicating significant crypto integration in gaming's big leagues.
Parasol aligns with Sui's gaming focus, alongside Q1 launches and the upcoming SuiPlay0X1 — a “crypto Switch” with a wallet and game store. With 70 titles in progress across 65 studios, the device aims to innovate gaming experiences.
Other highlights:
•
@eliroth is using Walrus to tokenize film IP
• MoviePass launched
@mogulxmoviepass, a fantasy-style celeb draft game
🏁 More Ahead
Sui’s recent run spans BTCfi, DeFi, institutions, social, and gaming — not just another L1, but a full-stack platform.
Founder Adeniyi Abiodun calls it a holistic replacement to today’s walled gardens: built-in liquidity (DeepBook), verifiable storage (Walrus), encrypted access (SEAL), resilient networking (SCION), and offchain compute (Nautilus).
The vision is playing out. BTC holders are coming for safety. Social apps are onboarding millions. Institutions are testing markets. The tech’s still young, but if it continues to prove itself live, Sui may yet deliver on its modular, open internet dream.