At Over $500 Million TVL, Sui Lands in the DeFi Top 10
Sui's growth in DeFi metrics has been rapid, hitting half a billion dollars in total value locked in less than a year.
DeFi protocols on Sui grew rapidly in 2023, and that momentum continues, leading to DeFiLlama reporting Sui's total value locked (TVL) at over $500 million. Reaching this amount in less than a year mirrors other breakthrough metrics on Sui, such as its peak transactions-per-second (TPS) approaching 6,000.
Breaking through $500 million TVL puts Sui in the top 10 of all blockchains.
TVL represents the amount users have added to DeFi protocols, which include lending, borrowing, and taking positions in derivatives. The rise in TVL shows a high interest in Sui's DeFi protocols as users explore the many options available.
Two factors unique to Sui, time to finality and low transaction fees, help DeFi protocols grow their user numbers. Sui's consensus mechanism allows subsecond finality, so transactions complete quickly, letting users react in real-time to market conditions. Consistently low transaction fees, which do not rise as traffic increases, give users confidence their tokens will remain productive rather than being absorbed as network costs.
Beyond those fundamental features, DeFi protocols on Sui benefit from user-friendly features such as sponsored transactions and zkLogin, greeting easing the onboarding experience.
Although TVL is useful in representing overall DeFi activity, volume is an equally important metric. Unlike TVL, volume tends to be volatile from day to day. Looking at a 30-day average, however, shows a trendline on a significantly ascent. Sui's average daily volume over January, 2024, rose to $47.2 million. Given Sui's scalability, volume drives fees for DeFi protocols, contributing to their success.
Sui's rapid growth indicates its exceptional market fit, offering Web3 developers expressiveness and flexibility unique in the industry. The experiences they create attract both crypto-native and inexperienced users, the latter who may have never before used a Web3 app.
Ultimately, Sui's growth and promise comes down to the community's hard work in developing the network and leveraging its features and attributes to create leading DeFi protocols.
