SUI token price doubles from the bottom! Institutional report: Sui is the strongest competitor to Solana

Developed by Mysten Labs, the high-performance Layer 1 public chain Sui, which uses the Move language, has shown a strong price performance recently. In the 46 days since its low on August 5th, it has surged by over 200%, making it the top performer among the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Yesterday, research firm K33 Research released a report predicting that Sui will soon become the strongest challenger to Solana.

Multiple Catalysts Boosting, Institutions Point Out Sui Could Challenge Solana's Position

In the past, Solana has been seen as an "Ethereum killer." Despite Solana not yet achieving that status, it has become the most widely used Layer 1 protocol outside of Ethereum. Recently, a research institution has pointed out that Sui may challenge Solana's top position in the near future. In a report on September 18th, K33 Research researcher David Zimmerman highlighted Sui's design architecture, performance, and gaming machine version as key factors that could propel it to the top of the Layer 1 ecosystem.

He stated, "Solana has often been a focal point in the Layer 1 war. Although SOL/ETH has risen by 6% since the opening in August, SUI/SOL has surged by 115% during the same period."

However, he also acknowledged that Sui's recent stellar performance may be attributed to widespread mispricing, but he also mentioned that Sui has enough positive factors supporting its price increase. On September 17th, at Token2049 hosted by Mysten Labs and stablecoin issuer Circle in Singapore, it was announced that USDC would be issued on Sui. Additionally, Grayscale launched the Sui Trust Fund in August, providing further momentum for Sui's development.

Grayscale's Special Article Marketing Sui Fund: Challenging Ethereum's Dominant Position in the Next Generation of Blockchains, with the Lowest TVL/Market Cap Ratio

Sui's Actual TPS Lags Behind Solana, Analyst Still Praises Its Development Technology

David Zimmerman stated that Sui has the qualifications to challenge Solana in terms of technology. In terms of TPS (Transactions Per Second, the number of transactions a blockchain system can process per second), Sui's theoretical maximum is 297,000 transactions per second, while Solana's theoretical maximum is 65,000.

However, theoretical maximums often differ from actual performance. According to CoinGecko data, Solana's highest "real" TPS is close to 3,000, while Sui's highest TPS reached a maximum of 854 in July 2023 854.

"Sui has created impressive technology. However, we have not seen it surpass Solana in real-world scenarios and in metrics such as daily TPS," David Zimmerman stated.

Speculators Betting Big, Could SuiPlay0x1 Handheld Console Replicate the Solana Saga Effect?

Another bullish factor for Sui is the handheld gaming console named SuiPlay0x1, developed and released by Mysten Labs behind Sui. The console is expected to ship next year and will come with NFTs, potentially unlocking airdrops from the ecosystem for users.

David Zimmerman compared Sui's gaming console to Solana's first mobile device, Saga, which provided users with airdrop rewards far exceeding the device's selling price.

Sui Still a VC Coin, Token Unlocking Could Be Key

But are there no obstacles on Sui's path to challenging Solana? David Zimmerman pointed out that token supply is Sui's biggest issue, although the Sui Foundation sees this as a positive factor.

Sui Foundation Member, Former Goldman Sachs Executive Labels It a VC Coin: Low Circulating Tokens Will Be the Best Choice in the Next 18 Months

He noted that when Sui was launched in May 2023, low token circulation/high FDV tokens were a common phenomenon. Currently, only 27% of Sui's total token supply is in circulation, and when tokens are unlocked in the future, current investors may face significant selling risk. In contrast, 80% of Solana's token total supply is currently in circulation.

While Sui has the potential to surpass Solana in the so-called Layer 1 war, Ethereum is not in immediate danger. Despite the market still viewing other Layer 1 protocols as Ethereum killers, David Zimmerman stated that with the listing of an Ethereum spot ETF in the U.S., Ethereum is no longer easily challenged by other altcoins.