Sui Network: Navigating the Path to Product-Market Fit
The project has seen decent growth in 2024 but still trails leading players in adoption. While its strategic push into Web3 gaming aims to unlock broader success, the outcome remains uncertain.
The Sui Network launched its mainnet in May 2023 and has grown since. Despite ranking in the top 20 on CoinMarketCap, it hasn’t yet found its unique place among leading blockchains.
The project positions itself as a “high-performance Layer 1 blockchain” that offers speed, scalability, and low latency for decentralized applications. It uses objects instead of accounts, which are more comfortable for developers to deal with. Its technical architecture includes horizontal scaling, which allows parallel transaction processing and thus significantly improves speed on its Layer 1.
However, this is nothing new these days. Multiple Layer 1 and Layer 2 solutions offer similar features, high throughput while still struggling to attract users. Sui is in a similar position.
Sui blockchain: A Strong Contender, But Still In A Junior League
The average daily transactions on Sui blockchain are about 10 million, although there are days with significant spikes. The number hovered around 5-6 million last year, so the network grew by around 100% in terms of daily transactions.
Some might view 10 million daily transactions as substantial, but compared to Solana’s 400 million, Sui's numbers are modest.
Ethereum with DeFi and Solana with memecoins are the only chains that have found product-market fit. Other top blockchains and Layer 2 networks are mostly copying what Ethereum and Solana have done, rather than developing their own growth areas.
Sui is like other projects trying to catch up, but the Sui team says they have a plan.
Sui As A Global Coordination Layer
The project has an ambitious development roadmap for 2025. It plans to enhance its technical infrastructure and grow from just a "faster, cheaper blockchain" into what they call a "Global Coordination Layer"
Once you realize Sui can manage complex digital assets, off-chain infrastructure, and cross-chain liquidity all in one place. You see how Sui can become the natural underlying fabric.
One of the main components of this off-chain infrastructure is Walrus Protocol – a low-cost decentralized file storage integrated with Sui. Currently, Walrus Protocol is in its public testnet phase, which began in October 2024. The mainnet launch is anticipated within the first quarter of 2025.
Besides Walrus, the team plans SEAL data encryption and access framework on top of it, a new internet routing SCION protocol, and even a 3D printing network for delivering physical goods globally, disrupting the conventional logistical routes.
Sui For Gaming?
More grounded are Sui's plans to advance into Web3 gaming.
In 2025, Sui is planning to launch its own gaming console and Playtron operating system built on blockchain.
The team sees a lot of demand for their gaming products:
“We’re not just talking about a handful of indie experiments. Over 65 studios are already building for SUI, with around 70 titles queued up for 2025 releases.”
The big bet is that a single top-tier title can attract millions of active users logging in daily, with all those microtransactions feeding into liquidity protocols, token markets, trading, and enhancing the ecosystem overall.
According to the team, “Gaming is SUI’s Trojan horse for mass adoption.”
As with all the other startups, finding a product-market fit is often a gamble. You have to continue to develop and iterate on your product, and maybe you will be lucky enough to find users for some of your features before going out of business.