Sui Unveiled: The Journey from Meta to Mainnet & Pioneering Next-Gen Blockchain Technology

The introduction of Sui ushers in a notable development in blockchain technology, engineered by the team at Mysten Labs, professionals with a history of significant contributions at Meta. This permissionless Layer 1 blockchain demonstrates considerable technical innovation, garnering interest within the crypto community ahead of its mainnet release.

In the following sections, we take a closer look at what Sui is and why it is notable within the dynamic landscape of blockchains.

What’s Sui?

Sui is a novel, permissionless Layer 1 blockchain crafted to foster a seamless experience for developers and end-users alike. It is engineered to facilitate a diverse spectrum of application developments, delivering exceptional performance with rapid transaction processing capabilities, all while maintaining cost efficiency.

Distinguished by its commitment to instant transaction finality, Sui offers a significant reduction in latency for smart contract execution and boasts superior transaction throughput when compared to its contemporaries in the Layer 1 space.

The Team

Mysten Labs, established by ex-Meta experts, is driving the Sui blockchain forward. This collective, with roots in Meta’s Novi wallet and Diem stablecoin, leverages their deep blockchain expertise to innovate in the Web3 domain.

The Fundraising

On September 8, 2022, Mysten Labs successfully raised $300 million at a $2 billion valuation, in a funding round led by FTX Ventures, with key investments from industry giants such as Binance Labs, Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

From Testnet to Mainnet

Mysten Labs introduced its Layer 1 blockchain, Sui, in March 2022, complete with a public software development kit (SDK). By May 2022, the company had outlined Sui’s tokenomics. The incentivized testnet for Sui went live in August 2022, followed by a series of three testnet waves to test the network’s capabilities rigorously. Wave 1, beginning in November 2022, targeted operator and validator functionalities. Wave 2, in January 2023, focused on Sui’s token economics. Wave 3, launched in February 2023, continued the network’s stress testing. This structured approach culminated in the successful launch of the Sui mainnet in May 2023. By the end of November, the total value locked(TVL) on Sui was $150.59 million, with over 1.95 billion transactions.

The Sui Token

Sui’s economic structure is meticulously aligned with its engineering blueprint, featuring five key pillars: the SUI token, gas fees, Sui’s storage fund, the proof-of-stake mechanism and on-chain voting. The SUI token has a maximum supply of 10 billion. As of November 30, the token’s value stood at $0.62, with a market cap of $580.04 million.

Why Sui?

Sui distinguishes itself in the blockchain landscape through unique technical advancements and a focus on interoperability.

The native programming language Move. Move is the bespoke programming language for the Sui blockchain, crafted to ensure secure and efficient smart contract development. Originating from the Diem project, it offers robust asset handling and access control mechanisms, streamlining the creation of digital assets and transaction management while prioritizing security and asset integrity.
Horizontal Scalability. Sui’s horizontal scalability enables the network to adapt to demand changes in real time, allowing validators to adjust computing resources accordingly. This ensures low and stable transaction costs, even during peak usage, and incentivizes validators economically to manage their capacity. Additionally, Sui’s scalable on-chain storage facilitates the creation of complex assets without the need for off-chain solutions, streamlining asset management on the blockchain.
Parallel Processing of Simple Transactions. Sui enhances transaction efficiency by enabling parallel processing for simple, non-sequential actions such as asset transfers and NFT minting. Unlike traditional blockchains that require global consensus and create bottlenecks, Sui’s Byzantine Consistent Broadcast algorithms facilitate high throughput and low latency. This allows for simultaneous transaction processing at scale, with near-instant finality and robust security. By November 30, Sui had impressively recorded 1.96 billion transactions. A notable peak in activity occurred in July, largely attributed to the viral sensation Sui 8192, which catapulted the average daily transactions to an astounding 22.96 million. While the surge settled, Sui maintained a robust performance with the daily transaction average holding steady at 2.69 million in November

*Source: *Daily Transactions on Sui

Sui Ecosystem

According to the Sui website, by the end of November, there were 85 projects in the Sui ecosystem. Some of these projects are:

Gaming: Sui 8192, Arcade Champion, Run Legends.
DEX: Cetus, KriyaDEX, FlowX Finance.
Lending: Scallop Lend, Navi Protocol, OmniBTC.

Among these projects, Sui 8192 has garnered significant attention for its user engagement and transaction volumes. Sui 8192 is a completely on-chain, open source, and extra challenging game inspired by 2048 and built on Sui by the Ethos team. The game’s premise is straightforward: players move and merge numbered blocks to reach the higher value of 8192, with each move constituting a transaction that alters the game state on the blockchain.

On September 28, Sui launched Play Beyond, a Web3 game portal featuring 18 diverse titles. Designed for ease of use, the portal allows users to enjoy gaming while accessing resources on Sui’s blockchain tech, all without requiring deep crypto knowledge, reflecting the 2023 trend towards immersive, user-friendly gaming experiences.

Since its mainnet launch, Sui has seen rapid adoption, drawing in 5.72 million users. Notably, the game Sui 8192 became a focal point of user engagement in July, capturing significant attention and a growing user base. The platform’s strategic loyalty initiatives further propelled its momentum. Quest 2, which ran from July 28 to September 5, highlighted Sui’s capabilities in the DeFi space, while Quest 3, from October 12 to November 9, turned the spotlight on gaming projects. These loyalty programs played a pivotal role in incentivizing user participation and exploring the diverse functionalities of the Sui ecosystem.

*Source: *Daily Active Users on Sui

In September, Sui took steps to simplify entry into Web3 by integrating OpenID Connect, allowing users to create on-chain accounts using existing Web2 services like Google, GitHub, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook. This integration eliminates the need for private keys or mnemonics, streamlining the onboarding process. Additionally, Sui employs Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) with OpenID payloads to maintain user privacy. This integration benefits the entire Sui ecosystem by making it more accessible and user-friendly.

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