Sui is an L1 blockchain developed by Mysten Labs. It’s one of the successors of Meta’s now-closed project, Diem.
Sui features very high bandwidth, low fees, and efficient transactions. Due to these qualities, it became the fastest-growing chain in 2024, with TVL's manyfold increase. Its token price skyrocketed from less than $1 to more than $3, reaching $5 at its peak. So, now it’s the best time to dive into the Sui DeFi ecosystem and learn how to use these projects for your benefit.
Introduction to DeFi on Sui blockchain
Let’s explore what DeFi is in general, so we can overview the Sui ecosystem with confidence.
What is Sui DeFi?
Decentralized finance applications enable users to manage their money without relying on third-party intermediaries, such as banks or broker firms. It includes stacking and yield farming, which may be compared with bank deposits, as users can earn stable income based on the chain’s interest rates. This income is called annual percent yield (APY), which is usually around 10% for Sui ecosystem products.
Generally, the larger the APY, the riskier the investment.
If one wants to earn larger interest than just by staking, one can use lending protocols. Here, users lend money to others and can earn a much larger APY, but the risk is much higher, too. Borrowers can be unable to return the money, and the position can be liquidated. To prevent that, modern lending protocols use collaterals to secure loans. Some of them also evaluate borrowers’ trustworthiness using various metrics.
Therefore, there are several types of DeFi features. Let’s summarize them.
- Native yield uses the blockchain’s native functionalities to stake its native token and earn rewards for contributing. As Sui is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) chain, users can stake their SUI to earn a yield, which is about 8% in 2025.
- Liquid staking shares some similarities, but here users stake their tokens into liquidity pools, provided by the DeFi application. Other users utilize these pools for trading, while stakers earn rewards from the transaction fees paid by traders.
- Token trading includes decentralized exchange (DEX) functionalities, where users exchange tokens and can earn on their price fluctuations. It’s quite risky, as token prices are hard to predict and traders can lose money if their tokens’ prices drop.
- Lending and borrowing protocols feature specific smart contracts where one user lends money to another. A collateral asset, such as NFT, is used to secure the loan, while smart contracts define the loan conditions and return dates.
Usually, Sui DeFi tools just require connecting the Sui wallet to use them, without KYC, bank cards, or even email registration.
Key features of DeFi on the Sui blockchain
There are different types of DeFi applications, but every blockchain project has basic features that are crucial for its sustainable development.
- Transparent communication means that developers share project development stages with the community, which indicates their responsibility and trustworthiness.
- Regular security audits ensure that smart contract vulnerabilities will be indicated and fixed before hackers can exploit them to steal users’ money.
- Community and support mean that every user can find help when needed. Moreover, a thriving community indicates that the project has a stable and positive reputation.
- Clear UI and documentation are crucial for any blockchain project, as all its technical peculiarities should be transparent for its users and other Web3 developers.
The Sui ecosystem is thriving for now, with its TVL increased from about $100m in late 2023 to more than $1.5b in late 2024. Such a tenfold increase can be seen on the DefiLlama graph below. That’s why it’s a great time to become familiar with Sui DeFi tools or develop your own project.
GetBlock is here to help—check our Sui nodes now and let’s make your dApps thrive!
Source: DefiLlama
Top Sui DeFi applications
As the Sui ecosystem grows and develops, various platforms emerge where these features are realized. Here, we’ll overview five of them, each focusing on specific aspects of decentralized finances we’ve discussed above.
- NAVI Protocol
- Cetus
- Kriya
- Suilend
- Scallop
Let’s look closer.
NAVI Protocol: Sui ecosystem for staking and trading
NAVI features a list of financial products for Sui. It includes lending protocol, staking tools, and DEX functionalities. Therefore, it’s a good starting point for Sui users who want to explore its ecosystem, due to its universality and stable functioning.
Source: NAVI
Cetus: A programmable liquidity provider
Cetus is a liquidity provider with bridge functionalities for Sui and Aptos. Both of them share the same programming language, Move.
It gives access to different liquidity pools with fluctuating APYs, so users can earn on the most trending tokens. Moreover, Web3 developers can use its smart contracts for their own applications or activities, speeding up the development process.
Check our Sui bridge article for more information about bridging on Sui!
Source: Cetus
Kriya: DeFi aggregator for token exchange
Kriya is a decentralized exchange (DEX) with liquidity pools, where users can swap different Sui tokens when they need them. It aggregates various DEX tools, so users can find the best prices and cheapest transaction fees. Users can also contribute Sui and its tokens to liquidity pools, earning passive income from transaction fees.
Source: Kriya
Suilend: A lending protocol with bridge features
One of the largest lending platforms on Sui, Suilend offers a wide variety of lending pools with different interest rates, while the app’s stability and security ensure that funds will remain safe. It also provides DEX functionalities with its swap and bridge tools. Users can also stake their SUI for stable passive income and earn participation rewards.
Source: Suilend
Scallop: A universal money market on Sui
Scallop is a lending platform, too, but it has more features, positioning itself as a universal money market. It also has swap and staking features and enables users to connect with other popular Sui dApps seamlessly. Moreover, it has tools for Web3 developers, similar to Cetus.
Source: Scallop
Understanding the Sui DeFi ecosystem
Let’s dive deeper into the technical peculiarities of Sui products.
The role of smart contracts in Sui DeFi
Sui is a programmable blockchain, which means that its functionalities are realized via smart contracts. In the case of Sui, they’re written on Move, its native programming language. Each smart contract is a fixed agreement between parties, which is recorded on-chain and cannot be changed.
All money management operations on Sui DeFis, be it liquid staking, trading, or lending, are executed via smart contracts. They ensure that these operations are conducted as intended.
One of Sui's standout programming features is its object-based architecture. It means that all data is stored as programmable objects directly on-chain. Such an approach enhances the transparency, security, and composability of Sui dApps.
Some Sui projects, such as Cetus, enable Web3 developers to use the projects’ functionalities for their projects. It fosters a seamless and efficient ecosystem within the Web3 space.
How Sui blockchain enhances DeFi security and scalability
Sui is designed to address critical challenges in scalability, speed, and cost efficiency.
It has outstanding technical parameters that contribute to its success. It employs parallel execution, allowing it to handle multiple transactions simultaneously. Due to that, its speed is incredibly fast, reaching 200,000 TPS and even higher. It’s the record among other blockchains, even compared to Solana, well-known for its bandwidth. Additionally, its parallel execution minimizes congestion even during high network usage.
Furthermore, Sui prioritizes user experience with its low-cost transactions and onboarding features such as zkLogin for privacy and web-based wallet credentials. The network's delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism further ensures decentralization while maintaining robust security.
The future of Sui DeFi ecosystem growth
It’s hard to tell anything for sure, but Sui metrics tell about the project’s high potential unambiguously. Its token price increased 4 times during 2024, while the TVL increase was more than tenfold. Its dApps have tens of millions of dollars locked in them and tens of thousands of active users. Therefore, everything shows that the ecosystem is booming.
Sui became a robust market with rapid growth and large financial opportunities. It’s a good time to explore it and find something profitable, or develop your own application.
GetBlock offers the best conditions for Sui developers, with its high-latency nodes for any task. Whether it’s shared nodes for small projects or dedicated nodes for large Sui enterprises, we support our developers with everything! Our support will solve all your problems, while we’ll showcase your project on our DappHub and various Web3 conferences. Sign up now, select your best plan, and enjoy your BUIDL!
