SUI: Is Network Activity Translating Into Economic Value?
SUI is the next token I want to review.
Sui is a Layer 1 blockchain built around speed, low transaction costs and scalability. Its ecosystem is primarily focused on DeFi, trading, gaming, digital assets and consumer applications.
Is the ecosystem actually being used?
The key question for me is whether the ecosystem is actually being used.
The figures in this review show approximately $548 million in DeFi TVL and around $474 million in stablecoins on Sui. The network has recently been processing tens of millions of transactions per day, alongside meaningful DEX trading activity.
Some of the major applications within the ecosystem include Cetus, NAVI, Suilend, Bluefin, DeepBook, Haedal and Turbos. This gives Sui an established ecosystem rather than simply a blockchain waiting for applications to arrive.
One metric I find particularly interesting is stablecoin liquidity. Hundreds of millions of dollars of stablecoins sitting on Sui provides capital that can actually be used across trading, lending, liquidity pools and other applications.
The other side of the equation is valuation versus economic activity. SUI has a multibillion-dollar market capitalisation, while the amount of revenue actually being generated by the network is considerably smaller.
Sui versus Solana
Data note: These figures are the research snapshot supplied with this opinion piece. The source links, measurement timestamp and transaction-count methodology were not supplied or independently verified for publication. Activity and revenue figures represent a reported 24-hour window; TVL and stablecoin liquidity are point-in-time balances. All dollar figures are USD. These figures should not be read as a live market feed.
| Metric | Sui | Solana | SOL versus SUI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transactions | 37.54m | 114.94m | 3.1× |
| Active addresses | 82,450 | 3.02m | 36.6× |
| Chain fees | $8.8k | $1.05m | 119× |
| Chain revenue | $3.8k | $113.9k | 30× |
| App revenue | $30.1k | $5.82m | 194× |
| DEX volume | ~$59m | $2.30b | ~39× |
| DeFi TVL | ~$549m | $6.56b | ~12× |
The transaction number is interesting
At first glance, 37.5 million Sui transactions versus 114.9 million Solana transactions looks quite impressive. Sui is doing roughly one-third of Solana’s reported transaction count.
But transaction count alone can be misleading.
Solana has about 37× more active addresses, 39× the DEX volume and approximately 12× the DeFi capital in this snapshot. So Sui’s enormous transaction count isn’t translating into comparable economic activity yet.
Revenue is where the difference really appears
Sui generated only around $3,800 in chain revenue over the reported 24-hour window, compared with roughly $114,000 for Solana. That’s around 30× more chain revenue on Solana.
And if we look beyond the base blockchain to applications built on them, the difference becomes even bigger.
Sui apps: ~$30,000/day
Solana apps: ~$5.82 million/day
That’s nearly a 200× difference.
My view
Sui’s transaction numbers are surprisingly strong compared with Solana, but those transactions aren’t yet producing anything close to the same level of economic activity. The next stage for Sui isn’t simply generating more transactions; it’s turning that activity into users, trading volume, fees and ultimately revenue.
Would love to hear your thoughts.
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This is research and commentary, not financial advice. Always conduct your own due diligence before investing in cryptocurrency.