Sui sui
What is Sui?
Sui (SUI) is a public Layer 1 blockchain developed by Mysten Labs for smart contracts, digital assets, and decentralized applications. Its defining design is object-centric: onchain resources, assets, and data are stored as uniquely identified objects rather than account-held key-value state. Sui uses Move, an open-source language for safe manipulation of onchain objects; Move on Sui adds an object-centric global storage model, explicit object IDs, and verifier-enforced ownership/scarcity rules. Sui Mainnet launched on May 3, 2023. SUI is the native token used for gas, delegated proof-of-stake participation, applications, and governance.
What problem does Sui solve?
Sui targets bottlenecks in conventional smart-contract platforms where large shared account/state maps make it difficult to determine transaction conflicts and force unrelated work through sequential execution. Its object model makes transaction inputs explicit, allowing the network to identify non-overlapping transactions and execute them in parallel. Move's resource-oriented safety and Sui's object ownership are intended to reduce asset-handling mistakes and make digital assets programmable. Sui also addresses composability and user experience through Programmable Transaction Blocks (PTBs), which let one transaction compose many typed Move calls atomically. These design choices do not remove all scalability, consensus, validator, or application-level risks.
How does Sui work?
A user signs a transaction with a private key and submits it through a full node to a validator. Sui validators use delegated proof of stake and Mysticeti DAG consensus to sequence transactions. Move packages define object types and functions; Sui objects have globally unique IDs, owners, versions, and transaction digests. Transactions explicitly declare object inputs. Transactions touching different shared objects can execute in parallel across cores, while conflicting transactions are ordered according to consensus output. Validators execute committed transactions deterministically and return effects; quorum-certified effects or certified checkpoints provide finality. SUI pays computation and storage gas, can be delegated to validators for staking, and participates in governance. The storage fund collects storage fees and compensates future validators for retaining historical data; deleting data can earn a partial storage-fee rebate.
Key facts
- Mainnet launch: May 3, 2023
- Developer: Mysten Labs; Move creator Sam Blackshear is identified by Sui as a Mysten Labs co-founder and original Sui contributor
- Native token: SUI
- Consensus/security: delegated proof of stake with validators and Mysticeti DAG consensus
- Object model: every resource, asset, or onchain data item is an object with a globally unique ID, owner, version, and last-transaction digest
- Move on Sui: object-centric global storage with explicit object inputs enables scheduling of non-overlapping transactions in parallel
- Programmable Transaction Blocks: one transaction can compose up to 1024 Move function calls
- Token supply: Mainnet SUI supply is capped at 10,000,000,000 SUI; availability follows unlocking schedules
- Token utility: gas fees, staking, applications/liquidity, and onchain governance
- Finality: Sui documentation says end-to-end finality typically takes 400–700 ms
- Epochs: validator set and stake remain fixed during epochs of about 24 hours
- Storage fund: storage fees fund a persistent pool whose rewards compensate validators for historical storage
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Frequently asked questions
What is Sui used for?
Sui is used for decentralized applications, digital asset ownership and transfers, DeFi, games, NFTs, payments, and other smart-contract workflows. Move packages define the application logic, while Sui objects represent assets and application state.
What makes Sui different from Ethereum-style account storage?
Sui uses an object-centric model. Objects have unique IDs and ownership, and transactions specify their object inputs explicitly. This lets Sui schedule transactions with non-overlapping inputs in parallel instead of relying on large account maps whose conflicts are harder to determine statically.
What is Move on Sui?
Move is an open-source smart-contract language for safely manipulating onchain objects. Sui's implementation adds object-centric global storage, globally unique object IDs, module initializers, and Sui-specific entry-function behavior.
How does Sui achieve parallel execution?
Sui's explicit object inputs reveal which transactions may conflict. Transactions that touch different shared objects can execute in parallel on multiple cores; transactions that contend for the same objects must follow the order determined by consensus.
What is SUI used for?
SUI pays transaction computation and storage gas, can be staked or delegated to validators, serves as a liquid asset for applications, and gives holders a role in onchain governance.
Who built Sui?
Sui is developed by Mysten Labs. Sui's official Move material identifies Sam Blackshear, creator of Move, as a Mysten Labs co-founder and original Sui contributor.
Is Sui proof of stake?
Yes. Sui uses delegated proof of stake: validators lock SUI as collateral and users can delegate SUI to validators. Validator participation and stake are organized by roughly 24-hour epochs.
What is Mysticeti?
Mysticeti is Sui's DAG-based consensus protocol. It allows multiple validators to propose blocks in parallel and sequences transactions; Sui then parallelizes execution of transactions that do not conflict on objects.
Does Sui have a fixed maximum supply?
Yes. Sui's official tokenomics documentation states that Mainnet SUI supply is capped at 10 billion tokens. Not all tokens are immediately available because distribution follows vesting and unlocking schedules.
Are Sui transactions final immediately?
After certified effects or inclusion in a certified checkpoint, a transaction is irreversible. Sui documentation reports typical end-to-end finality of 400–700 milliseconds, but latency depends on network and endpoint conditions.
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