From "Fastest L1" to "Programmable Internet Stack": The Underlying Logic Behind the Value Elevation of SUI Public Chain

As the Web3 technology stack continues to evolve, smart contract languages are migrating from the Ethereum-dominated Solidity to the more secure and resource-abstracting Move language. Move was originally developed by Meta for its cryptocurrency project Diem and features first-class resources and is friendly to formal verification, making it an important language option for the underlying architecture of the new generation of public chains.

In this evolutionary context, Aptos and SUI have become the dual core representatives of the Move ecosystem. Aptos was launched by the original Diem core team, continuing the native Move technology stack, emphasizing stability, security, and a modular architecture; whereas SUI introduces object-oriented data structures and parallel execution mechanisms, forming a SUI Move branch with greater performance breakthroughs and innovations in development paradigms, reconstructing on-chain resource management and transaction execution models. SUI not only pursues high TPS but fundamentally reshapes the operating mechanism of blockchain, providing the technical foundation for complex on-chain interactions and large-scale Web3 applications.

1. Reshaping the Public Chain Landscape

After Solana enters the Firedancer era, its performance curve may remain ahead, but it still belongs to the "single-chain high-frequency trading" paradigm. SUI, on the other hand, attempts to address needs beyond performance through horizontal stacking and end-to-end privacy/storage. This represents a significant difference from Aptos (also Move, but still single-dimensional scaling) or Sei (specialized chain, liquidity depth concentration).

Compared to Solana: both have comparable performance, but SUI has lower confirmation latency. In terms of ecosystem, Solana has more projects and users, while SUI is growing faster. In the future, both may coexist, with Solana leaning towards the crypto-native ecosystem and SUI focusing more on Web2 penetration and gaming socialization.

Compared to Aptos: both originate from Libra/Diem, but SUI users and developers are more active. The SUI object model is more efficient, attempts multiple narratives, and user growth is rapid.

Comparing with Sei: Sei focuses on order book trading and has a narrow positioning. SUI takes the general L1 route, supports diverse applications, and is more resilient to risks.

Compared to Ethereum L2: SUI has advantages in ultra-low latency and high concurrency, making it suitable for high TPS games and other applications. In the long term, it may coexist with L2, while in the short term, it depends on who can better meet application needs.

2. Ecological Data Shines

Since the SUI mainnet went live in May 2023, user growth has been rapid. As of April 2025, over 123 million user addresses have been created on-chain, with monthly active addresses exceeding 40 million. In terms of new users, the average number of new wallet addresses reached over 1 million per day.

In terms of cross-chain funds, by mid-2025, the total locked amount of SUI cross-chain is approximately $2.55 billion. The market value of stablecoins reached a historic high of over $800 million in mid-April 2025, with USDC dominating.

SUI has fully covered high-frequency scenarios such as on-chain order book DEX, real-time PvP, and social interaction. The upgrade goal for Mahi-Mahi is >400,000 TPS, but continuous validation of the core protocol's stability under high concurrency is still needed.

Current highlights of the SUI ecosystem data:

1. The resilience of the capital structure has formed, with a TVL of approximately 160 to 180 million USD, and stablecoins + LSD accounting for 55%.

2. The developer retention rate is higher than that of other public chains of the same age, with a 24-month survival rate of 37%.

3. User structure bifurcation (DeFi + content entertainment) drives the diversification of on-chain interactions.

4. BTCFi locked amount exceeded 1000 BTC, accounting for 10% of the total TVL.

5. The two major growth areas of RWA and native derivatives are yet to be developed.

3. SUI Foundation, OKX Ventures, Mysten Labs and others become key ecological forces

OKX Ventures, as an early discoverer and co-builder of the SUI ecosystem, has strategically invested in core projects such as Cetus, Navi, Momentum, and Haedal, covering key DeFi sectors including DEX, lending, and LST. These investments have created a strong ecological synergy, building a self-reinforcing DeFi loop.

The SUI Foundation and Mysten Labs' investment in the infrastructure layer has established deep competitive barriers for the ecosystem. Mysten has raised over $300 million for SUI development from 2023 to 2024, focusing on the research and development of "thick infrastructure" such as Walrus, Seal, and Nautilus. This strategy brings technological stickiness within the ecosystem and enhances SUI's capacity to support emerging fields.

4. Value Positioning Upgrade

SUI is transitioning from a "high-performance parallel chain" to a "programmable internet stack." The team is committed to integrating traditional internet components (computing power, storage, identity, liquidity, privacy computing) into a single native protocol stack to build the programmable foundation of the next generation of the internet.

Currently, the SUI infrastructure has entered the production phase:

• The Mysticeti consensus engine achieves sub-second finality.
• DeepBook public matching layer daily orders exceed one million
• SuiNS minted 280,000 domain names, zkLogin completed 12 million social logins.
• Walrus storage writes 580 TB of data
• Seal provides MPC/TSS secret management services
• Nautilus supports verifiable computing, attracting AI projects for testing.

Based on these capabilities, SUI has opened multiple growth directions:

1. Web2 SaaS Migration: Non-financial interactions account for 42% of the mainnet call frequency.
2. Offline Networks and Extreme Scenarios: Testing non-IP networks, targeting weak network scenarios.
3. AI Verifiable: Focus on the on-chain auditability of AI weights, inference logs, and data sources.

In terms of technological progress, SUI continues to improve foundational consensus, protocol upgrades, development experience, and user tools. The ecological components cover a full-stack architecture encompassing storage, encryption, and privacy computing. In terms of security governance, SUI demonstrates a rapid response capability, as seen in the handling of the Cetus theft incident.

Overall, SUI is transforming from "the fastest L1" to a "programmable internet stack," dedicated to building a general infrastructure that serves the scalable implementation of Web3.