Sui is a decentralized Layer 1 delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPoS) blockchain that redefines asset ownership, providing everyone with equal access to its programs.^[15] Sui was developed by Mysten Labs, a company founded by Evan Cheng, Adeniyi Abiodun, Sam Blackshear, George Danezis, and Kostas Chalkias, and was launched on May 3, 2023. ^{[1] [2]}

Overview And Name Origins

Sui is the water element in Japanese philosophy. The power of the sui element lies in its fluidity, its ability to easily adapt to and transform any environment. Similarly, the Sui platform seeks to provide a flexible network that a user can leverage to shape the web3 landscape. The Sui platform is built on Sui Move, which is derived from the core Move programming language. ^[1]

Sui could run on Sui Mainnet, Sui Testnet, and Sui Devnet networks. Sui is a smart contract platform maintained by a permissionless set of validators that play a role similar to validators or miners in other blockchain systems.

Features

Parallel Execution

In traditional blockchain networks, when a transaction is created, it is included in a block, and if someone trades the token on a decentralized exchange, it is included after the first transaction, sequentially. But with Sui Blockchain's Parallel execution system, instead of executing one transaction after another, users can perform multiple transactions at the same time. It could handle up to 120,000 transactions per second. ^[7]

Gas Fee

In traditional blockchain networks, gas fees rise and fall based on network demand. Sui runs in a sequence of 'epochs' (24 hours). Each epoch is managed by a validators' committee. From one epoch to the next, the validators set has no right to be reordered. Instead of gas prices fluctuating minute by minute, it remains stable over a 24-hour period. ^[6]

Features For Web3

A few other features that the Sui blockchain supports are: ^[4]

• On-chain decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional finance (TradFi)
• Reward and loyalty programs
• Complex game and business logic
• Asset tokenization services
• Decentralized social media networks
• Upgradable NFT

Components of Sui Blockchain

• Objects - Sui has programmable objects built and managed by Move-powered smart contracts, also known as Objects.
• Transactions - Transactions describe any modifications and updates to the Sui ledger. Sui employs the state-of-the-art Bullshark consensus protocol to order transactions involving shared objects.^[10]
• Validators - Independent Validators manage the entire Sui network on different machines, each running a unique version of the Sui software. ^[5]

Sui Move

Move is a programming language specifically designed for the Libra blockchain, now known as Diem. It was developed by Facebook's Libra project, which aimed to create a global digital currency and financial infrastructure. Sui Move is an open-source language for writing safe smart contracts. Sui Move can define, create, and manage programmable Sui objects representing user-level assets.^[12]

Features

Object Centric Global Storage

In Core Move, global storage is part of the programming model. When a module is published, it’s stored in a newly generated module address inside Move. Current blockchains cannot handle storage-heavy applications such as marketplaces and social apps. There is no global storage in Sui Move. None of the global storage-related operations are allowed in Sui Move. When a module is published, it is stored in Sui storage, instead of Move storage.

Object ID's

A special address type of 16 bytes is used to represent addresses in core Move. Core Move needs to know the address of an account when dealing with global storage. In Sui, the address type is used to represent the Object ID.

Key Ability

In core Move, the key ability is used to tell that the type can be used as a key for global storage. Sui requires any struct with key ability that starts with ID field with the ID type. The ID type contains both the Object ID and the sequence number.

Module Initializers & Entry Points

Core Move modules are published through Move kernels. It is called through global storage operators. Sui Move modules are published into Sui storage. It has entry functions that can be called directly from Sui. ^[13]

Organization & Community

• SUInami DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization built on the Sui blockchain. This innovative platform allows individuals and organizations to participate in a self-governing and transparent ecosystem that is designed to empower its members.^[2]
• 'Sui'piens is a one-stop community for all Sui blockchain news feeds. It provides updates on the Sui ecosystem.^[3]
• The Sui Foundation is an independent organization that is dedicated to the advancement and adoption of the Sui network/blockchain. The Foundation fulfills its mission by educating, activating, funding, and promoting builders and creators within the Sui ecosystem.

2024 Updates

Native USDC on Sui

In October 2024, native USDC went live on the Sui mainnet and was made available to developers and users, without requiring bridging. As one of the most widely used stablecoins, USDC brings stable value transfer and liquidity to the Sui ecosystem. ^[16][17]

To get started with USDC on Sui, users can first go through Circle Mint. Eligible businesses and distributors who are Circle Mint Account holders can directly access and redeem USDC through Circle Mint, an effective and cost-efficient way to gain access to USDC.

The second way is to swap assets for USDC via one of the DEXes built on Sui. The third way is to purchase USDC from an exchange that supports USDC on Sui, with Coinbase coming live soon. ^[17]

Sui partners with Ant Digital

In December 2024, Sui and China’s Ant Digital partnered to tokenize real-world assets. They plan to concentrate on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) assets. This collaboration is set to integrate the assets held by a global technology and solar materials manufacturer into the Web3 ecosystem. ^[18]

“Tokenizing the ESG market is an incredible step forward for real world assets,” - said Jameel Khalfan, Head of Ecosystem Development at Sui Foundation.

“Through this partnership, investors will have access to a whole new market, and it’s all happening on the platform most suited for it, Sui.” ^[18]