Ethereum vs. Sui: The Complete Guide (2025)

Ethereum and Sui are Among The Most Popular Layer-1 Blockchains

Ethereum and Sui are among the two most popular Layer-1 blockchains today. While Ethereum is the heavy-hitter when it comes to market cap, Sui is the fastest-growing large L1, with its market cap growing from a respectable $1.39 billion in August 2024 to more than $9.7 billion in mid-June 2025 (providing more than 6x return for investors in around six months). 

As of the writing of this article, Ethereum is ranked as the #2 cryptocurrency by market cap, while Sui is ranked as the #12. Compared to Ethereum, Sui, much like Solana, is growing significantly faster when we look at various core metrics, including new network addresses. 

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the key aspects of both the Ethereum and Sui blockchains, including their founders and history, token and tokenomics, scalability and performance, architecture and consensus, programming languages, DeFi TVL, GameFi and SocialFi use cases, and NFT implementations. 

Founders and History 

Ethereum

Ethereum was founded in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin. The project’s co-founders included future crypto heavyweights Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, and Joseph Lubin, who would respectively go on to found Polkadot, Cardano, and Consensys. Ethereum, which launched its mainnet in 2015, was the first blockchain to offer smart contracts, meaning that decentralized applications (dApps) could be built on it rather than just permitting payments, as Bitcoin had. In this way, Ethereum revolutionized the crypto and blockchain industry by transitioning the focus away from digital payments to a global, decentralized internet. 

Like Bitcoin, Ethereum was initially a proof-of-work blockchain, requiring energy-intensive miners to validate transactions. However, in September 2022, Ethereum transitioned its consensus mechanism to proof-of-stake (PoS) in a process known as “The Merge,” reducing the blockchain’s energy usage by more than 99%. 

Sui

Sui was founded in 2021 by Evan Cheng and a team including Sam Blackshear, Adeniyi Abiodun, and George Danezis, who created a new entity, Mysten Labs, to develop the Sui blockchain. Like Aptos, Sui was inspired by Facebook’s (now Meta’s) discontinued Diem/Libra blockchain and stablecoin project, which all of the core founders were heavily involved with. 

Like Diem, Supra, and Aptos, Sui utilizes Move, the programming language that was initially developed for Diem. Sui launched its mainnet in May 2023. Sui, like Solana and Ethereum, is a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain.   

Token and Tokenomics 

Ethereum (ETH) 

Ethereum’s native token is ETH. The ETH token is utilized for purposes including transaction fees, staking, and protocol governance. 

ETH does not have a maximum supply. As of the writing of this article, 120.72 million ETH were in circulation. New ETH is created to reward validators, but to reduce the total supply, a part of each transaction fee is burned by sending it to a designated address where it cannot be retrieved. As of early to mid-2025, the annual inflation rate for ETH was approximately 0.35%. 

Sui (SUI) 

Sui’s native token is SUI. The SUI token is utilized for purposes including transaction fees, staking, and protocol governance. 

Sui does have a fixed supply of 10 billion SUI tokens, though only 3.39 billion are currently in circulation. According to information from Binance News, as of September 2024, Sui Co-Founder Even Cheng stated that the monthly unlock of SUI tokens was 2.6% of the supply and was continuously decreasing. 

Scalability and Performance

Ethereum

Ethereum TPS, Jan. 2016 to Jan. 2025. Source: Dune Analytics. 

While it may have been the first popular blockchain for smart contracts, Ethereum’s main issue has been its speed and scalability. 

According to data from Blockworks and Dune Analytics, Ethereum, over the last several months, Ethereum has had an average TPS of around 13. Ethereum.org says that Ethereum blocks reach finality in around 15 minutes, though other sources claim finality is slightly faster, averaging about 13 minutes. 

These incredibly slow speeds have led to an explosion in Ethereum Layer-2s, which operate on top of the main Ethereum blockchain and inherit its security but use various methods to increase the speed and scalability of transactions. Popular Layer-2s include Optimism, Arbitrum, and Base, which are much faster than the Ethereum mainnet. 

However, Ethereum itself has a long-term plan called “The Surge.” Much like “The Merge” changed the blockchain by reducing its energy usage by 99%+,  “The Surge” would radically revamp parts of Ethereum’s network architecture to allow both the Ethereum mainnet and L2s to reach 100,000 TPS or more. However, it’s unclear exactly when this plan will be implemented. 

Sui

Sui is significantly faster than Ethereum, reaching an incredible 300,000 transactions per second (TPS), under testnet conditions. However, real-world factors slow things down quite a bit. 

According to the Sui blockchain explorer Suiscan, Sui reached a maximum real-world TPS of 860 on July 8, 2024. However, Sui has had a significantly lower TPS level in recent months, averaging only 92 TPS during the last three months of 2024. 

Sui also claims that it can achieve finality in 400 milliseconds. 

Architecture and Consensus  

Ethereum

Ethereum is a monolithic, Layer-1, proof-of-stake network. Ethereum validators use the network’s native ETH token to pay network transaction fees, earn staking rewards, and vote on decisions. 

There are currently more than 1 million Ethereum validators around the world. An Ethereum validator is a Beacon Chain address with a balance equal to or greater than 32 ETH at the execution layer that is responsible for proposing and verifying blocks of transactions. 

In contrast, a node operator runs the infrastructure of the Ethereum network, helping manage nodes. According to Etherscan’s Ethereum Node Tracker, as of the writing of this article, there are currently 5,935 Ethereum nodes distributed around the world, with 60% of them in the U.S. 

Sui

Sui is a modular, Layer-1, proof-of-stake network. Sui uses parallel execution to enable high transaction output and low latency. Like Ethereum, Sui’s validators use the network’s native SUI token to pay network transaction fees, earn staking rewards, and vote on decisions. 

In addition, Sui’s modular design allows the network to adapt over time without requiring hard forks, which are radical changes to the blockchain’s protocol. Sui and Supra’s modular design enables them to scale up faster and more efficiently with fewer barriers for users and developers. This is because when different elements of a blockchain are separated, each component can be updated at a faster pace. 

Modular blockchains contrast with monolithic blockchains, as modular blockchains are separated into different layers, including different layers for: 

• Consensus: How the nodes come to an agreement upon which data is accurate. 
• Execution: How the blockchain actually processes transactions.
• Data Availability: How and when the necessary data is made available. 
• Settlement: How transactions are made final (i.e., irreversible). 

Due to this separation of responsibilities, modular blockchains are increasingly seen as superior in scalability and flexibility when compared to monolithic blockchains, like Ethereum and Solana. 

Programming Language 

Ethereum

Ethereum uses the Solidity programming language as its primary language. Solidity is similar to JavaScript, though there are slight differences. 

Sui

In comparison to Ethereum, Sui is written in the Move programming language. 

Move is a Rust-inspired smart contract programming language that is widely considered to be more secure than traditional blockchain programming languages such as Solidity (which is typically used for Ethereum and many EVM-compatible blockchains). Notably, Move is designed to prevent vulnerabilities common in Solidity, such as  “reentrancy,” a type of smart contract vulnerability that allows an attacker to repeatedly call a function in a contract before the previous function call is finished. This can trigger unexpected behavior or even allow the attacker to drain funds from the contract. 

Some of the elements of Move that help prevent reentrancy include: 

• Eliminating Interface Calls: Avoiding direct external contract calls, reducing attack surfaces.
• Limiting Visibility: Restricting access to sensitive functions and data.
• Mutability Constraints: Using strict rules to control how and when state changes are allowed.

Move utilizes a special kind of programming logic to make sure that resources, such as tokens or permissions, cannot be accidentally destroyed or copied. This helps make these resources more secure than resources created using other languages. In this way, Move was created to focus more on what data represents (like assets or resources) in contrast to how that data behaves. 

DeFi TVL 

Ethereum

Ethereum TVL, Mar. 6, 2025: Source: Defillama. 

As of early March 2025, Ethereum supported a wide array of DeFi dApps and had over $51 billion of DeFi TVL (total value locked). The top protocols by TVL included AAVE, Lido, and EigenLayer. 

• AAVE is a highly popular decentralized lending protocol that allows people to borrow, lend, and earn interest on crypto, all without a middleman. AAVE is governed by the popular AAVE token. As of the writing of this article, AAVE had more than $16 billion in TVL, with the majority of that being on the Ethereum blockchain. 
• Lido is a liquid staking protocol allowing users to earn staking rewards on ETH. Lido used to allow staking for Polygon’s MATIC token, but this has been phased out. Lido is governed by the protocol’s native token, LDO. 
• EigenLayer was the first popular Ethereum protocol to introduce restaking. Restaking lets users stake the same tokens on the main blockchain and other protocols, securing multiple networks simultaneously. This increases staking rewards, though it can also increase slashing risk. EigenLayer is governed by the protocol’s native token, EIGEN. 

Sui

Sui TVL, Mar. 6, 2025: Source: Defillama. 

As of early March 2025, Sui supported a wide array of DeFi dApps and had more than $1.2 billion of DeFi TVL (total value locked), with some of the top protocols by TVL including Suilend Protocol, NAVI Protocol, and Haedal Protocol. 

• Suilend is a decentralized lending protocol built on the Sui blockchain, developed by the team behind Solend. It enables users to deposit various cryptocurrencies to earn interest or borrow assets against their deposits. The platform’s native token, SEND, is utilized within the ecosystem. 
• NAVI offers over-collateralized lending/borrowing for assets including SUI, ETH, wBTC, wETH, USDT, and USDC. It also has features including isolated pools and flash loans. Reportedly, NAVI will also soon offer cross-chain lending and borrowing services. 
• Haedal is a liquid staking protocol built on Sui that allows individuals to stake their SUI tokens to participate in the governance of the Sui network. By staking with Haedal, users get haSUI tokens in return so that they can continue to engage in DeFi activities to earn additional yield. 

GameFi

Decentraland, one of the most popular games on the Ethereum blockchain. 

Ethereum

Ethereum is one of the most popular blockchains for virtual games and hosts multiple popular GameFi dApps, including CryptoKitties, The Sandbox, and Decentraland. 

• CryptoKitties is a highly popular NFT-based collectible game. According to the official website, “CryptoKitties is a game centered around breedable, collectible, and oh-so-adorable creatures we call CryptoKitties! Each cat is one-of-a-kind and 100% owned by you; it cannot be replicated, taken away, or destroyed.” 
• The Sandbox is a viral land-based NFT game. According to the official website, “The Sandbox is a virtual Metaverse built on the Ethereum blockchain, where players can build, own, and monetize their gaming experience.” The Sandbox gaming ecosystem is governed by the $SAND token. 
• Decentraland is another popular virtual land game and a competitor to The Sandbox. According to the official website, “Decentraland is a social virtual world where you can connect, explore, and create. Meet new friends, join events, and make memories—no matter where you are.” Decentraland is managed by the Decentralized Foundation, which is governed by the $MANA token. 

Despite the popularity of games on Ethereum, speed and graphics issues have been a problem. In recent years, many games have shifted to Ethereum sidechains like Polygon, as well as Layer-2s and non-Ethereum Layer-1s. 

Sui

Currently, Sui hosts multiple popular GameFi dApps, including Abyss World, BIRDS, and Legend of Arcadia. 

• Abyss World is a fantasy ARPG (action role-playing game), set in the ancient world of Nordinia. Players will explore the mysterious traces of the “old tide,” which allowed souls to travel to Nordinia from the other side of the sea. As new incidents occur, players must unravel the history of Nordinia and explore the power of this awakening world. 
• BIRDS is a memecoin and GameFi community on Sui that features an AI game, an NFT marketplace, and a telegram-based Sui wallet, among other features. New players get free airdrops of the $BIRDS token, can hatch their NFT birds, and can play their way to even bigger rewards. 
• Legend of Arcadia is a multi-chain play-to-earn strategy card game which combines a traditional gaming experience with Web3. While exploring the game’s large universe, players can also earn additional yield through mining, battling, and staking.

SocialFi

Ethereum

Some of the top SocialFi apps on Ethereum include Friends With Benefits, Lens Protocol, and Roll. Friends With Benefits (FWB) is a token-based social network that blends community engagement with decentralized finance. By leveraging Ethereum’s smart contracts, FWB rewards members with native tokens for participating in exclusive events and collaborative projects. 

Lens Protocol offers a decentralized social graph that empowers users to fully own their digital identity and data. It enables creators to publish, interact, and curate content without intermediaries, ensuring secure and censorship-resistant social networking. Similarly, Roll facilitates the creation and management of social tokens, allowing influencers and communities to directly monetize engagement through blockchain-based rewards. 

Sui

Right now, there is only one well-known social dApp on Sui, FanTV, which migrated from Polygon to Sui in mid-2023.  

FanTV is an increasingly popular streaming platform, with over 5 million Sui wallets onboarded and over 1.5 million monthly users. FanTV a SocialFi platform centered around the idea of platform ownership. This means that creators and users earn both platform tokens for engaging with interactive content. Ideally, this type of economic model both incentivizes creators to create high-quality content and rewards users for participating in the platform. Different user actions that can be rewarded including watching content, sharing it, and even inviting new users to FanTV.  

NFTs 

Ethereum

Ethereum birthed the NFT craze in 2017 when popular collections like CryptoKitties were launched. By 2022, NFT sales and transaction volumes on Ethereum had peaked. Famous sales at the height of the NFT craze included the $23 million sale of CryptoPunk #5822 in February 2022. 

With the crypto bull run of 2024 and early 2025 leading to massive surges in crypto prices, interest in NFTs (and NFT prices) has rebounded somewhat, though overall volume still isn’t anywhere near where it was back in 2021 and early 2022. 

Ethereum still dominates the market for high-value NFT sales, though Solana has been catching up with (and occasionally beating) Ethereum in certain metrics. 

Sui

Sui NFT analytics, showing NFT minting volume and total NFTs minted. Source: Suvision. 

Within 24 hours of Sui’s mainnet launch in May 2023, the first Sui NFT collection, Fuddies, was launched on the Clutchy NFT marketplace. While the Fuddies launch did experience multiple issues, by the end of 2023, more than 1,300 collections launched on the Sui blockchain. Today, that number has reached more than 76,000. 

In the last two and a half years, Sui has emerged as one of the fastest-growing blockchains for NFTs. As of February 2025, more than 52 million NFTs had been minted on the Sui blockchain, and that number looks to only increase over time. 

Ethereum vs. Sui: Where to Buy Tokens 

If you want to participate in the future of either the Ethereum or Sui blockchains, you can easily buy their native tokens from several major exchanges. 

ETH tokens are currently available on nearly all centralized exchanges, including Binance, Bybit, Coinbase, OKX, Cetus, Upbit, Bitget, Kraken, and Kucoin. They are also available on DEXs, including Curve, Pancakeswap, Osmosis, and Pangolin. 

SUI tokens are also available on nearly all centralized exchanges, including the aforementioned Binance, Bybit, Coinbase, OKX, Cetus, Upbit, Bitget, Kraken, and Kucoin exchanges. They are also available on DEXs, including Turbos Finance, DeGate, BlueMove, and SuiSwap. 

FAQs

1. Ethereum vs. Sui: Which is Better? 

Ethereum and Sui are powerful and popular blockchain ecosystems, but each has benefits and drawbacks. 

Ethereum is a better-known and well-established blockchain with a significantly larger developer and user community and more live dApps. 

Despite those advantages, Sui is significantly faster, and due to its smaller market cap, it will likely grow much faster than Ethereum, at least from an investor’s perspective. 

2. What are the main differences between Ethereum and Sui?

The main differences between Ethereum and Sui lie in their speed, architecture, and programming languages. For example: 

• Ethereum has an average of 13 TPS, while Sui has an average closer to 90 TPS. 
• Ethereum is a monolithic blockchain, while Sui is a modular blockchain. 
• Ethereum uses the Solidity programming language, while Sui uses Move. 

3. What challenges do Ethereum and Sui face?

Ethereum may face challenges due to its low speeds, high gas fees, and slow finality times. In comparison, Sui may face challenges due to the limited developer base for the Move programming language and concerns over the SUI token inflation rate. 

4. What are the pros and cons of the Ethereum and Sui blockchains? 

Ethereum and Sui each have various pros and cons, which we’ll detail below. 

Ethereum Pros: 

• Higher market cap and more established ecosystem  
• Better name recognition 
• Largest developer community in blockchain 
• More institutional investment (i.e., Ether ETFs)  

Ethereum Cons:

• Slower user base growth 
• Speed issues, significantly lower TPS, and finality 
• High gas fees make transactions expensive 

Sui Pros:

• Extremely fast user growth 
• Fast token value growth for investors
• More secure and stable programming language (Move) 
• Faster theoretical TPS 
• Some concerns over token inflation

Sui Cons:

• Much smaller user base
• Much smaller developer base (Move is less popular than Rust) 
• Fewer active dApps 
• Lower real-world TPS 

5. Which blockchain network token is better for investors, ETH or SUI? 

While we can’t give specific investment advice, and all crypto investing is risky, most crypto analysts would suggest that ETH may be a more secure but lower-growth token due to its long history and relatively large market cap. In contrast, many analysts would suggest that SUI has higher growth potential due to its relatively smaller market cap. Still, investors will almost certainly experience much higher volatility if they invest in SUI. Either way, investors should not place money into cryptocurrency investments they cannot afford to lose.