Sui Token Surges 19.7% as Foundation Redirects 117M Tokens for Ecosystem Development

Sui's latest price was $4.00, up 19.701% in the last 24 hours. The Sui Foundation has made a significant move by retrieving 117 million SUI tokens from external market partners. These tokens, initially allocated for liquidity, are now being redirected to support ecosystem development directly. The foundation views this decision as a long-term investment in network infrastructure, aiming to enhance the overall performance and capabilities of the Sui blockchain. The reallocated tokens will fund validator subsidies, open-source tool development, and protocol-level advancements. This strategic shift is designed to optimize Layer 1 performance, thereby increasing blockchain efficiency under high demand. Additionally, developers will benefit from new grants to encourage the deployment of advanced decentralized applications (dApps), pushing decentralized finance (DeFi) innovation forward. The 117 million tokens represent over 13% of the circulating supply and around 1% of the total supply, ensuring that this reallocation does not affect the circulating supply or introduce inflationary pressure.

Since its launch in May, the Sui Network has demonstrated remarkable on-chain performance, surpassing 65 million transactions daily and outpacing many legacy blockchains. Innovations such as zkLogin and Move-based smart contracts have been pivotal in driving this growth. zkLogin, in particular, has enabled Web2 users to interact with dApps securely without the need for private keys, resulting in over 6 million unique wallets generated since the launch. The total value locked (TVL) in the Sui ecosystem has surged to over $38 million, doubling in just two months. This growth is further supported by tools like DeepBook and liquid staking protocols, which enhance the capabilities of Sui’s DeFi layer by generating capital efficiency and bringing liquidity into the network. The token redistribution will further bolster these initiatives by directly supporting market-building efforts.

The Sui Foundation’s strategic roadmap reflects a strong commitment to long-term decentralized network development. By redirecting capital into grants, the foundation aligns with its decentralized governance roadmap, focusing on composability, security, and expanding core protocol capabilities. Sui’s architecture emphasizes horizontal scalability and near-instant finality, making it an attractive platform for developers aiming to build performance-intensive Web3 applications. Key sectors include gaming, NFTs, and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). By shifting unused market-maker tokens, Sui unlocks stagnant capital for builders, enhancing resilience while maintaining predictable monetary policies. The Foundation’s proactive management underscores its maturity and strategic discipline in blockchain governance, positioning Sui to remain competitive in the evolving Layer 1 landscape. The roadmap combines foundational investment with responsive community support, likely accelerating user adoption and ecosystem diversification in 2025.

The Sui mainnet has achieved an interoperable connection through the Axelar (AXL) cross-chain interoperability network. This integration allows asset issuers to seamlessly deploy native assets to the Sui network using Axelar’s secure cross-chain token service (Interchain Token Service, ITS), providing users with a chain-agnostic interaction experience. This development comes at a time when on-chain DeFi activity on the Sui network has surged, with over 1.4 million daily active addresses driving over $11 billion in trading volume in the past 30 days. Several flagship projects in the Sui ecosystem, including Aftermath, AlphaFi, and Bluefin, have already started leveraging Axelar’s cross-chain capabilities, propelling Sui to become a DeFi infrastructure with global liquidity.

The Sui ecosystem game Xociety is set to collaborate with adidas to launch an NFT. Whitelisted groups will have the opportunity to mint during the whitelist period from 21:00 on May 14th to 21:00 on May 15th, with the public minting phase opening on May 16th at 21:00 and ending on May 23rd. This collaboration follows the completion of a $7.5 million Series A funding round for NDUS Interactive, the developer of Xociety. The funding round was led by Hashed and the Sui Foundation, with participation from Spartan, Neoclassic, Big Brain Holdings, and PUBG game publisher Krafton. This strategic partnership and funding round highlight the growing interest and investment in the Sui ecosystem, positioning it for further growth and innovation in the Web3 space.