Sui network, launched in 2023, has become a leading layer 1 network in the realm of decentralized finance within a short space of time.
The network’s strong DeFi community, supported by the Sui network team, has flourished while other network’s DeFi has stagnated or suffered from controversial incidents and hacks.
Many traders believe Sui network has a chance against Solana, one of the current leaders in decentralized finance, as Sui gains new investments from Franklin Templeton and interest from investment firms such as VanEck.
Advantages of Sui network and its DeFi ecosystem
Sui network is a layer 1 blockchain network that utilizes a DPoS (Delegated Proof-of-Stake) consensus mechanism for near-instant transactions.
The network was designed with cheap, instant transactions in mind to facilitate and scale a large decentralized ecosystem with bustling communities, similar to Ethereum.
Sui’s advantages over other networks come down to its robust, scalable blockchain network and the team’s support of decentralized applications on the network, incentivizing decentralized application developers to build on Sui.
The SUI token allows users to interact with decentralized applications and can be used for staking purposes to help secure the network from malicious actors.
Since launching in 2023, the Sui token has reached an all-time high of $5.35 and secured important ecosystem investments from the likes of Franklin Templeton, an investment firm that has used decentralized networks such as Stellar Lumens to tokenize their asset funds.
Digital asset investment firm VanEck has predicted Sui could reach $16 by the end of 2025 after an extensive report was completed by the company, comparing Sui Network to Aptos.
With Sui’s rise, many investors are questioning where Sui network stands against Solana, a leader in DeFi and token creation.
The Solana network: It’s controversies and meme coins
Solana is known for its meme coin ecosystem. The network’s easy-to-use blockchain structure allows users to make crypto tokens quickly and easily.
Recently, Solana has suffered from blockchain outages due to network congestion, causing the blockchain to crash, and failing to create new blocks.
There has also been controversy regarding insider trading on top Solana meme coins and tokens with connections going back to Solana’s decentralized exchanges such as Jupiter, with investors calling out internal corruption within Solana.
It’s not uncommon for transactions made on Solana to fail during peak activity on the network. Unlike, Sui, where transitions are near-instant and less likely to fail.
SUI, yet to encounter any controversies, has been supporting its developers since its foundation. Traders have begun to compare the two as Solana’s native SOL token shows weakness.
On March 1, 2025, 11.2 million SOL tokens were unlocked, bringing into question Solana’s tokenomics and future unlocks. According to Coinbase, by February 2025, 498M SOL tokens will be in circulation with no token cap in the future.
SUI vs SOL
Sui’s network was built with scalability for decentralized finance in mind. With the team’s incentivization for DeFi growth, Sui Network could surprise the crypto market over 2025 leading into 2026 with its growth.
If Solana fails to recover from recent meme coin meltdowns, the network must prioritize other DeFi solutions for it to fight back competition from networks with more foundations outside of meme coin creation and ‘gambling’.
According to VanEc, Sui Network will be a DeFi network to watch this year, challenging Etheruem and Solana at their own game.
