Sui Network Defies Logic: $11.6B Market Cap Boom Amid Transaction Slump
Sui Network's market cap rockets to $11.6 billion while daily transactions nosedive—proof that crypto valuations dance to their own erratic rhythm.
When fundamentals don't matter: The Layer 1 blockchain's soaring valuation comes despite plummeting network activity, making traditional finance analysts reach for their antacids.
Wall Street would call this 'disconnected from reality.' Crypto natives call it 'Tuesday.'
Sui Network saw a notable increase in market value in Q3 2025, with its circulating market cap rising 23.3% quarter-over-quarter to $11.63 billion. This growth outpaced the broader cryptocurrency market, which advanced 20.7% during the same period, as per report by Messari.
Despite the market gains, sui fell three positions from Q2 to rank as the 15th largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Transaction fees on the network, which include computation costs and non-refundable storage fees distributed to validators, fell in both USD and token terms.
Total fees decreased 11.1% to $3.8 million, while fees denominated in SUI dropped 22.3% to 1.1 million tokens. Analysts attribute this decline to a slowdown in transaction demand and network activity, despite the token’s price appreciation over the quarter.
Q3 Token Unlocks Increase SUI Circulating Supply
Q3 saw a series of token unlocks that expanded SUI’s circulating supply. Across July, August, and September, 172.1 million SUI tokens, valued at $561.1 million, were released from reserves, team allocations, private investors, and staking rewards. This represented 1.72% of the total supply, pushing distributed tokens to 35.7% of the network’s maximum supply.
The network’s staking mechanism, designed to distribute 1 billion tokens over time, continues to impact inflation. At the end of Q3, the annualized staking reward inflation rate stood at 0.20%, decreasing by 10% every quarter until full distribution.
A high proportion of tokens remains staked, with 75.4% of the eligible supply locked for rewards, slightly down from Q2. Due to price gains in SUI, the USD value of staked tokens ROSE 15.8% to $24.58 billion, although the network’s real annualized yield is slightly negative at -0.09%.
Sui Foundation Supports Decentralized Staking
Network usage declined in Q3, with average daily transactions down 4.7% to 4.7 million and average daily active addresses falling 9.5% to 895,800. Average transaction fees decreased 17.3% to 0.0025 token ($0.0088), with sponsored transactions covering about 32.1% of total activity.
On the security front, the number of active validators continued to expand, increasing from 104 to 122. The Foundation, holding a significant portion of the token supply, helps distribute stakes evenly across validators, supporting network decentralization.
Despite slower activity, the network maintains strong staking participation and a robust validator network, laying the groundwork for continued growth as the ecosystem matures.
Related Reading: SUI Rally Potential: Historical Patterns Could Drive Price to $20
