SUI’s Ecosystem Boom: The Rocket Fuel for a Price Surge to New Highs?

Move over, legacy chains—SUI’s ecosystem is flexing, and traders are betting it’ll catapult prices past ATHs. Here’s why the smart money’s watching.

Ecosystem Growth: More Than Just Hype?

With DeFi protocols multiplying like memecoins in a bull market, SUI’s network activity is screaming ‘liquidity magnet.’ But can adoption outpace the usual crypto pump-and-dump cycle?

Price Potential: Breaking Barriers or Hitting Walls?

Technical charts show a tightening consolidation pattern—classic breakout fodder. Yet skeptics whisper: ‘Another altcoin waiting for Bitcoin’s crumbs.’

The Verdict: A calculated gamble. SUI’s tech chops are real, but in a market where ‘fundamentals’ means ‘whose tweet dropped last,’ even the best ecosystems ride the hype rollercoaster. Bonus jab: Wall Street still thinks ‘SUI’ is a typo for ‘SUIT’—their loss.

SUI ecosystem thriving on…

Suilend and NAVI have emerged as the top two protocols on the SUI network in terms of Total Value Locked (TVL), with only a narrow gap of $12 million separating them. 

According to Torero Romero, Suilend holds $539.1 million in TVL, while NAVI follows closely with $527.5 million.

Both protocols have experienced significant TVL growth since Q4 2024, peaking in January 2025. 

However, their trajectories differ: NAVI’s growth has been more stable, while Suilend’s TVL has shown greater volatility, marked by sharper swings.

Source: Torero_Romero/X

The competition highlighted a vicious battle in the race to the top between the two in the SUI DeFi sector. That way, user capital flows and protocol utility could easily determine the next dominant force.

Additionally, SUI saw phenomenal developer growth rate with an increase of +16.1% year over year, which ranked second only to solana at +17.7%.

What is more interesting, SUI was the best network in terms of two-year developer growth with +54%, when all other networks were far behind.

Source: Altcoin Buzz/X

This was contrasting, however, with the wider tendency. In aggregate, the number of crypto developers had decreased by 20%.

Although the majority of EVM LAYER 1 chains headed in the negative growth direction, SUI showed a different path.

Navigating the price look?

A distinct inverse head and shoulders pattern has formed on SUI’s 2-hour chart, signaling a potential trend reversal. 

The neckline, sloping downward from $3.20 to $2.90, had acted as a key resistance level.

After several failed attempts, SUI finally broke above the neckline, confirming the breakout. This MOVE pushed the price above $3.00, reinforcing the bullish setup.

If momentum continues, SUI could target the $3.20–$3.40 range. 

However, a drop below the $2.90 neckline WOULD put the breakout at risk of invalidation, potentially signaling a false move.

Source: TradingView

If SUI fails to hold above the $2.90 level, there’s a risk of a pullback toward the $2.60–$2.70 zone, which aligns with the previous right shoulder of the inverse head and shoulders pattern.

Recent breakout candles also faced mild rejection NEAR $3.10, making immediate follow-through critical for sustaining momentum.

While the chart still reflects underlying strength, a continuation of the rally will likely require increased volume and consolidation around the neckline to confirm support.