Sui’s Evolving Ecosystem

Key Takeaways

• Sui’s daily active addresses (DAA) have been declining, showing a shift in user activity despite its early strong adoption.
• Total value locked (TVL) continues to grow, indicating that users still have confidence in Sui’s decentralised finance (DeFi) ecosystem.
• Sui’s DeFi sector includes the typical automated market maker (AMM) and borrowing/lending platforms, with key protocols leading their categories.
• Sui’s unique differentiators, Walrus and SuiPlay, aim to expand beyond DeFi, bringing new functionalities in decentralised storage and blockchain gaming, respectively.

Sui Main Metrics

Daily Active Addresses (DAA)

Sui saw rapid user adoption in its first year, peaking at over 1 million DAA in September 2024​. However, this number has since been declining, suggesting either reduced engagement or a shift in user focus towards specific applications. This could be due to a lack of new high-demand applications or competition from other Layer 1 (L1) blockchains like Solana (SOL). While some fluctuation in user activity is expected, a sustained downtrend in DAA could indicate challenges in user retention.

Sui Daily Active Addresses continually declining

Total Value Locked (TVL)

Unlike DAA, Sui’s TVL has been consistently increasing, surpassing $4 billion in early 2025​. This indicates that while fewer users may be actively transacting on Sui, the ecosystem continues to attract liquidity. This is likely due to attractive incentives for liquidity providers and yield farmers, as well as strong participation in DeFi protocols. However, TVL growth alone does not guarantee long-term success, especially if active engagement continues to decline.

Suis TVL has continued to climb in contrast to the DAA’s.

The Sui DeFi Ecosystem

Sui’s DeFi ecosystem has followed the standard growth trajectory of most L1 blockchains, with a decentralised exchange (DEX) and a lending/borrowing protocol leading the way.

Decentralised Exchange (DEX): Cetus

Cetus is the dominant automated market maker (AMM) and DEX on Sui, offering a Uniswap-like experience tailored for the network. As with most early blockchain ecosystems, AMMs play a crucial role in providing liquidity and facilitating on-chain trading. Cetus has attracted strong liquidity but remains in a competitive landscape where newer DEXes could challenge its dominance.

Borrowing & Lending: Scallop

Scallop is the leading lending and borrowing platform on Sui, providing a decentralised way for users to earn interest on deposits and take out crypto-backed loans. Like Aave on Ethereum, Scallop enables users to collateralise assets and borrow against them. Its growth has contributed to Sui’s rising TVL, but like most copycat DeFi products, it does not introduce groundbreaking innovations beyond what exists on Ethereum and other major L1s.

What’s the Point of Difference?

Despite following the standard L1 playbook for DeFi, Sui is developing unique features that could set it apart. Two standout projects are Walrus and SuiPlay, which target decentralised storage and blockchain gaming.

Walrus: Decentralised Storage and Data Availability

Walrus is Sui’s native decentralised storage and data availability (DA) solution, positioning itself as a competitor to Arweave and Filecoin. This protocol aims to provide cheap and scalable storage for onchain data, ensuring that Sui-based applications have a reliable way to store information. Walrus could help keep more activity and storage onchain, enhancing its appeal to developers and users.

SuiPlay: Sui’s Foray into Blockchain Gaming

SuiPlay0X1 is Sui’s dedicated gaming device and ecosystem, aimed at bridging web3 gaming with mainstream adoption. So far, blockchain gaming has struggled to deliver meaningful, long-lasting experiences. This makes SuiPlay a high-risk venture for Sui, but if successful, it would be a standout feature that no other blockchain currently offers.

SuiPlay for not just blockchain games

This initiative follows a similar path to Solana’s push into mobile crypto adoption with the Solana Phone, highlighting Sui’s ambition to expand beyond DeFi and traditional financial applications.

Final Thoughts

Sui’s ecosystem is evolving with strong DeFi adoption, rising TVL, and growing infrastructure for gaming and storage. However, challenges remain, particularly with declining user activity and strong competition from Solana and other high-performance L1s. Whether Walrus and SuiPlay can differentiate Sui enough to sustain long-term growth remains to be seen, but these projects represent its best chance to stand out in a crowded market.