Sui has rapidly emerged as one of 2025’s breakout Layer-1 blockchains, hitting a new high in total value locked (TVL) of over $2 billion in May 2025. At the same time, the broader Sui ecosystem has exploded: CoinGecko now tracks over 170 tokens of dApps built on Sui, with a combined market capitalization north of $30 billion as of May 2025. From professional trading venues to “move-to-earn” fitness dApps, this growth reflects both developer enthusiasm and user demand, making Sui a compelling platform for beginners and builders alike.
What Is Sui and What Sets It Apart From Other Layer-1 Blockchains?
Sui is a Layer-1 blockchain from Mysten Labs that uses an object-centric architecture to process unrelated transactions in parallel, rather than forcing every operation through a single queue. Written in the Move language, Sui smart contracts enforce asset safety by design, while benchmarks show a 100-node network hitting 297,000 TPS with ~400 ms finality and sub-cent gas fees.
Unlike Ethereum’s shared gas market, which leads to volatile fees during congestion, and Solana’s single-queue model prone to stalls, Sui’s parallel execution delivers predictable, low-cost performance under any load. This consistency makes it ideal for use cases ranging from high-frequency DeFi to real-time gaming .
The native SUI token powers every network action, paying gas, enabling delegated staking, and facilitating on-chain governance, while a portion of fees funds a “storage fund” that subsidizes future validator rewards. Ranking as the 13th largest asset in the crypto market, with a market cap of around $13 billion as of May 2025, SUI combines practical utility with strong tokenomics to support both everyday transactions and long-term value for holders.
Why Is the Sui Ecosystem Popular in 2025?
Since its May 2023 mainnet debut, Sui has seen explosive growth across every key metric. The network now boasts over 8 million activated wallets and has processed more than 2.64 billion transactions, highlighting both retail and institutional demand. TVL on Sui climbed from around $25 million at launch to over $2 billion by May 2025, as new DeFi protocols and lending platforms attracted fresh capital. Behind these numbers is a vibrant developer ecosystem. Mysten Labs backs builders with exhaustive Move tutorials, SDKs, grant programs, and regular hackathons, ensuring a continual pipeline of innovative dApps.
Sui's DeFi TVL crosses $2 billion in May 2025 | Source: DefiLlama
On the application layer, Sui’s low, predictable fees and high throughput have enabled projects to offer features previously impractical on other chains. Advanced trading venues like DeepBook and concentrated-liquidity DEXs such as Cetus Protocol leverage sub-cent transaction costs to provide limit orders, automated market-making, and yield farming with minimal slippage. Meanwhile, NFT marketplaces like BlueMove let creators mint and list new collections for just pennies, settling trades in under a second. Interoperability bridges now shuttle assets such as USDC from Ethereum and Solana directly into Sui, bolstering on-chain liquidity and allowing users to jump into DeFi or NFT markets in a single click.
Beyond raw performance, Sui’s community-driven culture is a core growth engine. Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) govern insurance pools, grant distributions, and protocol upgrades, empowering holders to shape the network’s future. Move-to-earn applications like Sweat Economy reward everyday activity with SWEAT tokens and in-app NFT collectibles for fitness milestones. Community vaults insure against smart-contract risks, giving users confidence to explore new dApps. Together, these participatory initiatives have made Sui not just a high-speed blockchain, but a welcoming ecosystem where developers and beginners alike can build, earn, and govern.
Top Sui Ecosystem Projects and dApps to Watch
Here are the top seven projects that showcase Sui’s technical prowess, from blazing-fast trading to playful community tokens, covering everything from professional trading infrastructure to community-driven memecoins:
1. DeepBook (DEEP)
DeepBook (DEEP) is the first fully on-chain central limit order book (CLOB) on Sui, acting as the native liquidity layer that brings professional exchange mechanics directly into DeFi. By leveraging Sui’s parallel transaction engine, DeepBook settles market and limit orders in roughly 390 ms with minimal slippage, while its robust order‐matching infrastructure ensures deep liquidity and seamless composability, allowing other Sui dApps to route trades through its order book. Whether you’re a pro trader placing complex limit orders on-chain or a protocol integrating efficient on-chain settlement, DeepBook provides the speed, reliability, and liquidity foundation that modern decentralized applications demand.
2. Cetus Protocol (CETUS)
Cetus Protocol (CETUS) is a permissionless, concentrated-liquidity AMM DEX built on Sui (and Aptos) that brings capital-efficient trading to DeFi. By adopting a Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker (CLMM) model, Cetus lets liquidity providers allocate funds within custom price ranges, maximizing fee earnings and reducing wasted capital. Its innovative “Intent Trading” feature automates limit-order execution when preset price conditions are met, while multi-tier fee pools and yield-bearing vaults reward LPs for network participation. Whether you’re swapping tokens instantly or deploying liquidity into high-activity bands, Cetus delivers smooth on-chain trading and efficient liquidity provision across the Sui ecosystem.
3. BlueMove (MOVE)
BlueMove (MOVE) is Sui’s premier NFT super-app, merging a launchpad, marketplace, and AMM DEX into one seamless platform . Users can mint new collections for just pennies thanks to gas-efficient transactions, while on-chain royalty enforcement ensures creators receive immediate, fair payouts on every secondary sale. With both web and mobile support, including an in-app wallet, BlueMove makes discovering, minting, and trading NFTs effortless and affordable, empowering artists and collectors to participate in Sui’s booming digital art economy.
4. USD Coin (USDC) on Sui
Native Circle-issued USDC on Sui brings the world’s largest regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin to a high-speed Layer-1, combining security with speed for seamless on-chain payments. Fully backed 1:1 by USD reserves, USDC on Sui enables sub-second, penny-level transfers, perfect for powering DeFi lending, in-game purchases, and cross-border remittances, while Circle Mint APIs offer direct fiat on/off-ramps for instant liquidity. As the leading stable asset on Sui, USDC has grown to over $622 million in market capitalization by May 2025, underscoring its critical role in the ecosystem
5. LOFI (LOFI)
LOFI (LOFI) is a community-driven DeFi movement on Sui that empowers token holders through DAO governance to vote on protocol upgrades, offers high-yield farming and vault opportunities, and drives social-first token launches via collaborative campaigns . By staking LOFI, users can participate in on-chain governance, shaping parameters like fee structures and new feature rollouts, while liquidity providers earn competitive APRs through dedicated yield farms and vaults. LOFI’s ethos of participatory launches harnesses social campaigns and community voting to launch new tokens, fostering a vibrant ecosystem where members actively stake, vote, and co-create the future of Sui DeFi.
6. Sweat Economy (SWEAT) on Sui
Sweatcoin (SWEAT) on Sui brings the popular move-to-earn model to Sui, rewarding physical activity with SWEAT tokens for every GPS-verified step. Users can redeem SWEAT in a built-in marketplace for goods, services, or charitable donations, while health-focused features, like gamified fitness challenges and NFT collectibles for milestones, boost engagement and promote lasting habits. Whether you’re earning tokens through daily walks or unlocking in-app rewards for hitting goals, Sweatcoin on Sui turns every step into tangible value and social impact.
7. sudeng (HIPPO)
Sudeng (HIPPO) is a community-backed memecoin on Sui with a fixed 10 billion supply and dynamic burn mechanics that incentivize holding by automatically reducing circulating tokens over time . Transfers incur a low tax, a portion of which funds wildlife conservation efforts, linking every transaction to real-world impact. Driven by a vibrant holder community, HIPPO’s governance polls allow token owners to vote on key project decisions, while periodic airdrops reward active participants. Whether used for speculative trading, community-driven decision-making, or small-scale distribution campaigns, Sudeng exemplifies how playful memecoins can foster engagement and purpose on Sui.
8. Haedal (HAEDAL)
Haedal's TVL as of May 2025 | Source: DefiLlamaHaedal is a leading liquid-staking protocol on the Sui Network. As of April 28, 2025, users have staked over $190 million worth of SUI across 865,835 accounts, making Haedal the fourth-largest DeFi protocol by TVL on Sui. The protocol automatically allocates stake to top validators and issues haSUI at a 1 SUI ≈ 1.054 haSUI exchange rate. You continue earning the base SUI staking yield (around 2.5% APY) while using haSUI in DeFi to boost returns. Haedal has a market cap of over $16 million as of April 2025.
The native HAEDAL token powers governance and rewards. Holders stake HAEDAL into veHAEDAL to vote on protocol upgrades and earn extra yield—recently boosting average APYs to over 3.2% during Q1 2025 through dynamic validator selection and revenue-sharing mechanisms. Haedal also ran a community airdrop allocating 5% of its 1 billion-token supply to early supporters. Regular security audits, a bug-bounty program, and over 44,000 daily active wallets underscore strong community engagement and protocol safety.
9. Walrus (WAL)
Walrus is a decentralized storage and data availability protocol built on the Sui Network. It specializes in handling large “blob” files, video, image, or dataset, using advanced erasure coding that breaks data into slivers across multiple nodes. This method ensures high availability even if some nodes fail, while keeping storage costs to around five times the blob size, far more efficient than full replication. As of April 2025, the global decentralized storage sector has a market cap of $4.64 billion, and Walrus ranks as one of the largest protocols in this sector with a market cap of over $700 million.
The native WAL token powers Walrus’s delegated proof-of-stake network. Storage nodes stake WAL (and its subdivision FROST) to join epoch committees responsible for storing and serving blobs. Token holders also use WAL to pay for storage services. At each epoch’s end, rewards are distributed to nodes and their delegators based on uptime and service quality, ensuring robust network operation. WAL has a circulating supply of 1.25 billion (out of 5 billion max), a market cap of roughly $706 million, and daily trading volumes above $73 million as of late April 2025.
Learn more about the Walrus (WAL) project in our comprehensive guide.
10. SUIA (SUIA)
SUIA is the native governance and utility token of Suia.io, a SocialFi DApp on the Sui Network that won Sui Foundation’s Builder Heroes award and MoveCTF and Demo Day championships. Backed by Sui Foundation, HashKey, SevenX, EVG, BingX, and Y2Z, Suia has connected over 80 projects in APAC and even launched an NFT coffee exchange with the Foundation.
Holders stake SUIA to participate in DAO voting on grant allocations, developer bounties, and ecosystem incentives. A 2% fee on each transaction, 1% burned to reduce supply and 1% rewarded to Social Coin creators, powers a deflationary model and funds ongoing community rewards based strictly on usage and participation.
The SUIA token also implements a deflationary model: a 2% fee on transactions, 1% burns SUIA, and 1% rewards project creators, helps sustain long-term value. With a fixed supply of 100 million tokens and a fully diluted valuation of roughly $2.3 million, SUIA aligns community contributions with token economics to drive sustainable development in the Sui ecosystem.
How to Get Started on Sui
Ready to dive into Sui? Follow these simple steps to set up your Sui wallet, acquire SUI, and connect to the hottest dApps in the ecosystem.
1. Choose & Set Up a Sui-Compatible Wallet: To interact with Sui dApps, you’ll need a browser wallet. Two popular options are Ethos Wallet and Suiet:
• Ethos Wallet: A Chrome extension tailored for Sui that supports Ledger hardware for extra security. Simply add “Ethos Sui Wallet” from the Chrome Web Store, generate a new wallet, back up your 12-word recovery phrase, and you’re ready to go.
• Suiet: Another user-friendly extension built for Sui. After installing Suiet, create or import a wallet, then use its built-in “Airdrop” button to claim SUI from the testnet faucet for development and testing purposes.
2. Acquire SUI Tokens: You can purchase SUI on mainstream platforms, such as BingX, by buying SUI/USDT. For developers or those experimenting, claim free SUI testnet tokens from the Sui Faucet by entering your wallet address; tokens arrive in minutes.
3. Connect Your Wallet to dApps: Once your wallet holds SUI, visit any Sui dApp (e.g., DeepBook, Cetus, BlueMove) and click “Connect Wallet.” Approve the connection in your extension, and you can start swapping, trading, minting NFTs, or participating in move-to-earn games.
How to Buy Sui Ecosystem Tokens
Ready to add Sui ecosystem tokens to your portfolio? Whether you prefer centralized spot trading on BingX or swapping directly on Sui DEXs like Cetus and DeepBook, these simple steps will guide you from funding your account to securing your assets safely.
1. Spot Trading on BingX
Spot trading on BingX is a quick and user-friendly way to buy Sui ecosystem tokens in just a few clicks. Here's how:
• Fund Your Account: Deposit USDT, USDC, or SUI into your BingX spot wallet.
• Search & Select: Go to Trade → Spot Trading, type the ticker (e.g., DEEP/USDT, CETUS/USDT) in the search bar, and choose your pair.
• Place an Order: For instant execution, select Market Order; to set a target price, choose Limit Order. Enter the amount and confirm.
2. Trade Tokens on Sui DEXs
As an alternative to spot trading on BingX, you can swap Sui ecosystem tokens directly on-chain with a Sui DEX like Cetus Protocol or DeepBook. Simply visit the DEX site, click Connect Wallet, and approve the Ethos or Suiet extension. Next, choose your “From” token (e.g., SUI) and “To” token (e.g., DEEP), review the tiny network fee (usually under $0.01), then hit Swap and confirm the transaction in your wallet. If you’d like to earn fees yourself, head to the Liquidity or Vault section, deposit a pair of tokens into a pool, and watch your rewards accumulate automatically.
Security Best Practices When Trading Sui-Based Tokens
Protect your funds and trades on Sui by following these essential safety measures:
• Check Audits: Before using any dApp, verify that its smart contracts have been audited by reputable firms like CertiK or Halborn. Audits identify vulnerabilities and confirm that the code behaves as intended, reducing the risk of hacks or exploits.
• Use Rug-Check Tools: Paste a project’s contract address into scanners such as Suiscan’s security tab to detect hidden admin keys, honeypot traps, or unusual permissions. These tools give you a quick red-flag warning if a token’s code has suspicious elements.
• Practice Position Sizing: Never risk more than 1–2% of your total portfolio on a single trade or liquidity position. By limiting exposure, you can manage volatility, avoid emotional decision-making, and ensure any one loss won’t derail your overall strategy.
Closing Thoughts
Sui’s innovative object-centric model, blazing speeds (up to 297,000 TPS with ~400 ms finality), and Move-powered security have sparked one of 2025’s fastest-growing blockchain ecosystems. With over 170 tokens and a combined market cap north of $30 billion, Sui offers everything from pro-grade DeFi to fun move-to-earn games. Whether you’re a beginner looking to explore low-fee NFT mints or a developer building next-gen dApps, Sui combines cutting-edge technology with a vibrant, community-driven ethos. Dive in responsibly; start with small positions, do your own research, and join Sui’s growing community to stay on the cutting edge of Web3.
