Sui versus Aptos

TLDR:  Aptos and Sui launched in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Both projects aim to scale to thousands of transactions per second. Aptos is leaning towards DeFi adoption in regions such as Africa, while Sui seems to lean more toward gaming and metaverse applications. Both have looked at the Solana playbook: Aptos has launched a phone and Sui will launch a gaming device.

Sui and Aptos both evolved from Facebook’s defunct Diem blockchain. Having secured $300M and $350M in funding, respectively, they both had plenty of runway to work on their mission to build extremely scalable blockchains capable of processing tens of thousands of transactions per second.

First, we kick off with some essential data.

Both projects are using the Move programming language. Despite a rocky start with a disappointing launch, Aptos has since attracted significant venture capital and interesting partnerships with tech giants like Microsoft and Google. Several notable projects are building on Aptos:

• Thala is Aptos’s TVL leader. It has a DeFi suite featuring a stablecoin, DEX, and liquid staking.
• Aries leads Aptos’s leverage trading with derivatives and a neat trading platform. 

As mentioned, Sui has the same pre-history as Aptos. It also focuses on scalability and low transaction costs. It does this by processing simple transactions in parallel, allowing up to 120,000 transactions per second.

A few examples of notable projects building on Sui:

• Stardust: Simplifies Web3 game development.
• Carrier One: Developing decentralized wireless services.

Both Aptos and Sui are integrated with Ondo finance, expanding real-world asset-backed stablecoins.

Fast but Different Transaction Handling

Both chains boast enormous transaction throughput. However there are differences in how they architecturally handle these.

Sui’s architecture allows it to process transactions differently based on the characteristics of the transaction. Transactions on Sui involving only “owned objects,” such as peer-to-peer transfers, bypass the need for consensus. They can complete in a shorter time. In Aptos however, each transaction is processed one after another in a sequence. However, to make this faster, Aptos has multiple ‘checkout counters’ (Compare Aptos’ transaction handling to being in a long line at a grocery store. Each customer and each item has to wait their turn. But in Sui, it’s like a food court. You don’t have to stand in a long line at the Thai merchant if you want some sushi, which has no line.)

Developer Count

In 2023, Aptos attracted 1000 new developers, versus 700 for Sui. In the summer of 2024, total active developers for Sui climbed to 1300+. 

For Aptos, this number is around 1000. Both projects have about 200 full-time developers.

The Charts

Here are the two charts, first Sui.

If you take May 2023 as a starting point, the charts are pretty similar.

Here’s Aptos.

Both slid down and bottomed in October 2023. That’s when the first phase of the bull market started, topping out around March 2024. Like the entire altcoin market, both slid down, bottoming out in early August 2024. Since then, both have recovered, with Sui outperforming APTOS.

Tokenomics

Both Aptos and Sui are examples of low float / high FDV projects. In other words, the percentage of tokens circulating is relatively low, meaning that the Fully Diluted Valuation is high compared to the actual market cap. Currently, Sui has only 27% of its tokens in circulation. APT currently has roughly 45% of its supply in circulation. 

This is often taken as a negative, as all the unlocks will create sell pressure. However, in a bull market this doesn’t need to be a bad thing: there are fewer coins to chase in periods of high demand. 

Both Aptos and Sui are Proof of Stake networks. Both APT and SUI can be used for staking, transaction fees, and governance.

The main difference between the tokenomics of Aptos and Sui is that SUI has a capped supply and APT an uncapped supply with a 7% annual inflation rate, decreasing with time. Aptos counteracts this inflation rate with a burn mechanism.

Comparing Niches for Aptos and Sui

Both ecosystems emphasize DeFi innovations, especially in liquid staking, DEXs, and yield farming. Key commonalities include the focus on lending/borrowing markets and integrating real-world assets (RWAs).

There are differences too: Aptos has a strong focus on stablecoins and derivatives trading through projects like Thala and Aries. Generally speaking, Aptos is positioning itself as a leader in DeFi innovation.

Sui’s emphasis on interactivity and seamless asset handling could give it an edge in Web3 developments, especially if the metaverse gains traction (again, lol). Sui’s object-based transaction model makes it uniquely suited for gaming applications. It has a burgeoning interest in NFT-based gaming (via Hyperspace). It can do this because of its so-called object-oriented design. 

Sui’s object-based approach allows for parallel processing of transactions that involve different objects. View these objects as toys in a toy box: different children can take out different toys and play simultaneously. Sui treats each asset (such as an NFT) like a toy in a box. This flexibility makes Sui very fast for handling lots of independent transactions at once. And this is needed in applications like gaming or metaverse environments, where many independent actions (like creating, trading, or using different assets) need to happen at the same time without waiting on each other.

In sum, Aptos leans more into DeFi primitives and RWAs, while Sui is also exploring NFT gaming and dynamic NFT models.

Phones and Devices

Sui: SuiPlay platform and gaming device

SuiPlay is a handheld gaming device that can currently be pre-ordered ($599). It will support games from platforms like Epic Games, as well as Sui-native games. Sui aims to make gaming a standout feature. In fact, it has built a developer platform called SuiPlay, that targets the gaming industry, particularly developers and players interested in blockchain-based games.

Aptos: the Jambo Phone

This phone, which is already for sale, was developed with Web3 infrastructure company Jambo. It’s pre-installed with a wallet. It is affordable (99 dollars) and aimed at boosting crypto access in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Of course, it connects users to the Aptos ecosystem.

Conclusion

Aptos and Sui share a common origin and technological framework. However their approach to consensus and transaction handling sets them apart, also in terms of their likely niches. Aptos might have a competitive edge in DeFi. Sui’s focus on high-performance, interactive applications sets it apart in gaming and real-time social dApps. As both projects are low float/high FDV, this could create bullish momentum in a bull run – but on the flip side, the unlocks could create extra downside in a bear market.