Sui: First Look - Figment

Sui: First Look

Published: October 28, 2022

Sui is a decentralized delegated proof-of-stake blockchain that enables horizontally scalable throughput with competitive speed at low cost, aiming to onboard the next billion users to web3. The protocol uses Move, a programming language that focuses on security by using a modular architecture. The Move language also allows parallel execution and horizontal throughput scalability without adding additional complexity for node operators.

What is Move?

Move is an executable language used to implement custom transactions and smart contracts. It takes inspiration from Linear logic to define custom resource types, meaning that a resource can never be copied or discarded, only moved between program storage locations. You can read more about how the language functions here.

The Architecture

Sui boasts scalability and low-latency by omitting consensus for simpler use cases such as payment transactions and asset transfers. By eliminating the need to achieve total consensus on a total ordered list of transactions, Sui eliminates a bottleneck which is prevalent in most blockchains today. Sui takes a substantial leap in scalability by enabling parallel agreement on casually independent transactions. Validators commit such transactions using Byzantine Consistent Broadcast, eliminating the need for global consensus without sacrificing safety and liveness. A list of 20+ potential dapp types that can avoid full consensus is available here.

Sui utilizes move along with a novel data model that applies an object-centric view to explicitly encode dependencies. This results in Sui being able to execute transactions on objects in parallel while also executing transactions affecting shared state via the Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus. For transactions that require ordering, such as some DeFi applications, Sui implements one of the fastest and most scalable mempool and BFT protocols with extra intra-sharding capabilities, called Narwhal and Bullshark.

Sui stores an array of programmable objects, each assigned with a unique global ID. Objects are owned by singular addresses (or other Objects) and every address can own multiple objects. Objects are defined as typed data created and managed by Move Packages (Smart Contracts). Objects can be frozen or shared to provide accessibility to others. You can read more about Objects here.

Additionally, Sui is designed with agility in mind, supporting multiple cryptographic key types, such as EdDSA and ECDSA for user keys and aggregated BLS signatures for validators. Moreover, Sui’s rich cryptography and finance APIs, including primitives for DeFi and zero-knowledge proofs, NFT and game templates, and examples for marketplaces and social networks, make the smart contract developer and wallet experience seamless.

Parallel Agreement:

Sui Use Cases

As per Evan Cheng, the CEO of Mysten Labs, current technology suffers from confining storage solutions and inherently unsafe programmability models, which pressure developers to compromise on functionality and user experience. Sui solves the most infamous problem in blockchain by delivering nonpareil scalability, security, and a simplified user experience at a low cost.

The Sui blockchain is designed to handle a diverse set of use cases, including:

Evan Cheng states that the lack of infrastructure has paralyzed development across the web3 space and Sui empowers builders and collectors to conquer uncharted territory.

Tokenomics

The Sui ecosystem boasts its native token SUI to perform essential functions on the blockchain, including participating in staking, paying for gas fees, and submitting or voting on governance proposals. The total supply of SUI tokens is capped at 10,000,000,000 (10 billion) tokens.

The Sui economic model consists of three main contributors:

Governance

Sui governance will manage updates and parameter changes via on-chain voting enabled by the SUI token. More information will be released closer to the Mainnet launch.

The Team

The Sui blockchain is developed by Mysten Labs, a team of experts in distributed systems, programming languages, and cryptography, with previous leaders from Meta’s Novi Research. At Novi, they helped develop the Diem Blockchain and Move Programming Language. The team includes:

Mysten Labs raised $300 Million in a Series B funding round that valued the company at over $2 billion.

Sui Partners

Sui provides a general-purpose platform with high throughput, a rich on-chain asset environment, and a user-friendly web3 experience. Some notable partners include:

Roadmap

Mysten Labs published the Sui white paper in March 2022 and tokenomics in May 2022. Currently, they are in Devnet, awaiting announcements for Testnet and Mainnet. Testnet is scheduled to launch in Q4 2022. Stay tuned for more updates on Sui.

The timeline towards Mainnet is below: