Sui Blockchain Experiences Explosive Growth in Q4 2024: Messari

Sui, the high-speed Layer-1 blockchain, has posted remarkable growth across all metrics in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to a new report from Messari. The network saw its market capitalization jump by 153.6% quarter-over-quarter to $12.1 billion, making it the 15th largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

This impressive performance came as Sui integrated Circle’s USDC stablecoin and Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol, gained institutional backing through VanEck’s Sui ETN, and secured a key partnership with Franklin Templeton Digital Assets.

The Messari report also revealed that the network received a major boost when Phantom, a popular wallet with around seven million monthly active users, announced plans to integrate Sui.

Transaction Activity on Sui and Network Usage Hits Record Levels

Network activity on Sui reached unprecedented heights during Q4, with daily transactions peaking at 58.4 million on October 5th, 2024. This surge was partly driven by increased memecoin activity but also reflects broader adoption across the ecosystem.

On average, the network processed 8.4 million daily transactions, representing a 153.3% increase from the previous quarter.

Despite this massive jump in activity, Sui maintained its trademark efficiency with an average transaction fee of just 0.0024 SUI ($0.0069). This ultra-low-cost structure makes Sui particularly suitable for high-frequency applications.

The network also continued to leverage its sponsored transactions feature, with approximately 6.3% of all transactions having their gas fees covered by applications rather than users.

DeFi Ecosystem Growth and Token Performance

Sui’s DeFi ecosystem showed strong momentum, with total value locked (TVL) climbing 67.9% to $1.7 billion in Q4. This represents a staggering 698.5% year-over-year increase. Leading protocol Suilend captured 32.6% market share with $736.2 million in TVL.

Several key DeFi protocols launched their native tokens during the quarter, including:

• DeepBook (DEEP): Sui’s native liquidity layer
• Suilend (SEND): The leading lending protocol
• Bluefin (BLUE): A derivatives trading platform

Average daily DEX volume on Sui reached $265.5 million, marking a 444.8% increase from Q3 and a massive 1,591.1% jump year-over-year. The DEX Cetus dominated with 75.6% of all trading volume.

Beyond DeFi, Sui continued to expand into gaming, NFTs, and real-world asset tokenization. Innovative projects like the SuiPlay0X1 handheld gaming device and partnerships with Major League Soccer for NFT experiences demonstrate the network’s growing appeal beyond financial applications.

As Sui nears the end of Q1 2025, its focus appears to be on expanding US partnerships, enhancing Bitcoin programmability through BTCfi initiatives, and investing in developer training through its global SuiHubs program.