- Sui’s market cap dropped 40.3% in Q1 2025, but it still climbed to 13th place overall as low fees and sponsored transactions helped maintain user activity.
- Over $549M worth of tokens were unlocked, fueling inflation concerns; real staking yields slipped to -0.14% despite 77.3% of eligible supply remaining staked.
- Sui’s DeFi and DEX ecosystems showed resilience, with Suilend, NAVI, and Cetus driving activity and DEX volume hitting a record $304.3M daily average.
The first quarter of 2025 was… not great for Sui. Its circulating market cap nosedived by 40.3%, landing at around $7.2 billion. That’s more than double the hit the overall crypto market took, which dropped about 18.2% during the same stretch, according to Messari’s latest data. But oddly enough, Sui still managed to move up—two spots, actually—now sitting at #13 by market cap. So, not all doom and gloom.
Fees on the network dropped too, in line with the price dip. Sui only pulled in $3.6 million in total fees for the quarter, a 33.3% slide from the one before. When you look at it in SUI terms, fees were down 44.4%. Less trading, less user activity—it all adds up. Still, Sui stuck to its low-cost transaction model, with fees averaging just $0.0087 per transfer. Also, over 23% of transactions were sponsored, helping developers keep things accessible for users.
Inflation Pressures Creep In Amid Token Unlocks
Now, about inflation—yeah, that was a thing too. In Q1, Sui unlocked about 242.5 million tokens, which were distributed to early backers, contributors, and reserve pools. Sounds small at 2.42% of total supply, but the market felt it; that unlock was worth nearly $550 million. And even though 77.3% of the eligible supply stayed staked by the end of March, it wasn’t enough to keep yields attractive. Once you factor in inflation, real annual returns dipped slightly negative to -0.14%.
Still, the network’s staking system, especially with liquid staking active even for locked tokens, helped keep some balance. It wasn’t a collapse—it was more like a pressure test. And Sui didn’t exactly break.
DeFi Protocols Push Through as Value Contracts
Sui’s DeFi scene held its ground, even with shrinking numbers. Lending protocol Suilend still led the pack, closing the quarter at $362.1 million in TVL—that’s a 25.6% drop, but it managed to hang on to nearly 30% market share. They also rolled out STEAMM, a “superfluid” AMM that lets LP assets multitask across swaps and lending. Pretty slick.
Right behind them, NAVI ended the quarter with $304.5 million in TVL and 24.7% market share. NAVI.ag got rebranded to Astros, and Mayan Finance got looped in to boost swapping functionality. Scallop wasn’t far off either—it reached $147.6 million TVL and racked up over $300 million in swap volume, adding multicurrency support and scoring exchange listings on BTSE and Coinstore for its SCA token.
DEX Volume Surges Thanks to Suilend and Cetus
On the trading side, Sui’s decentralized exchanges had a moment. Daily average volume across DEXs hit $304.3 million—up 14.6% from last quarter. Cetus led the charge with $171 million daily, while Bluefin wasn’t too far behind at $68.5 million. Others like Kriya, DeepBook, and Turbos also kept busy, showing off Sui’s throughput muscle and growing infrastructure.
So yeah—Q1 was rough. But even with headwinds, Sui’s ecosystem kept moving. And that might count for more than a green candle in the long run.
