Dialogue with Mysten Labs co-founder: From technological innovation to ecological layout, how did we become the first public chain of MOVE?

Compiled & edited by TechFlow

Guest : Adeniyi Abiodun, Co-founder of Mysten Labs & SUI Developer

Host : Nic, Host

Podcast source : More Coin Bureau

Original title : SUI Is Crushing It! Insights & Predictions with Adeniyi Abiodun!!

Air Date : November 11, 2024

Background Information

Nic interviews Adeniyi Abiodun, Co-founder of Mysten Labs, the developer behind SUI. This emerging tier-one blockchain is poised for great performance and momentum in 2024. Don’t miss this exclusive interview to get first-hand information about the platform being dubbed the “Solana Killer.”

Deep Tide Note:

Mysten Labs is a company focused on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency infrastructure. It was founded by a group of former Facebook (now Meta) employees who played important roles in Facebook's blockchain project Diem and cryptocurrency wallet Novi. Mysten Labs' goal is to develop the next generation of blockchain technology to improve the scalability, security, and decentralization of blockchain networks.

One of Mysten Labs’ most notable projects is the Sui Blockchain, a high-performance decentralized blockchain platform designed to support large-scale applications and fast transaction processing. The Sui Blockchain uses a new consensus mechanism and data structure to achieve higher throughput and lower latency.

What is SUI and how did it get started?

• In the podcast, Adeniyi Abiodun introduced the background and goals of SUI. He emphasized that SUI is a global coordination layer that aims to solve the problem of increasing centralization of the Internet. Adeniyi and his team worked on Facebook's Libra project, and although Libra was not launched in the end, they still hope to continue to realize the vision of building a global computer.

• The core goal of SUI is to create a set of protocols and platforms that make the Internet more decentralized, allowing developers to interoperate between different services and products without relying on centralized services or intermediaries. This will increase efficiency, reduce costs, and bring many new use cases to developers and users that were not possible before.

• Adeniyi emphasized that SUI is not just a blockchain, but a powerful developer platform that allows developers to expose services or APIs in the form of smart contracts. He described how SUI enables developers to coordinate various assets and services with simple code (such as JavaScript), and even complete multiple transactions in one click.

• He also pointed out that in just one and a half years, SUI has achieved significant growth in the blockchain market, surpassing many blockchain projects that have existed for many years. This shows that SUI's influence and market share among developers are rapidly increasing.

The reason for the creation of SUI and its relationship with Meta

• Adeniyi mentioned that one of the core elements of SUI is its unique smart contract programming language, Move, which originated from Meta (formerly Facebook). Adeniyi explained that Move was created by SUI CEO Sam Blackshare while working at Meta in order to build a platform that can securely handle assets and funds.

• In the process of developing the Move language, the team studied a variety of programming languages, including Solidity and Rust. Adeniyi emphasized that traditional languages are insufficient in terms of security and developer friendliness, so a new programming language needs to be developed that can ensure the security of code in a decentralized environment. The Move language is characterized by its simplicity and efficiency. Developers can achieve more functions with less code and do not have to perform tedious security checks, which reduces the risk of code vulnerabilities.

• He further explained that SUI is an object-based system rather than a traditional account system, which gives developers greater flexibility when building applications. Adeniyi pointed out that the learning curve of the Move language is relatively short, and developers can usually master it within three to four days, allowing them to quickly build high-quality applications.

• Adeniyi also shared developers’ feedback on the Move language, many of whom said that their development efficiency on Move has been greatly improved, and it has become easier to build secure and expressive code. He believes that Move will become the mainstream language for developing smart contracts in the future, and expects its market share to grow significantly in the short term.

Is it difficult to attract developers to build on SUI?

• Adeniyi pointed out that SUI’s goal is not to simply imitate the successful models of other blockchains, but to focus on improving the developer experience. They believe that if they can provide developers with an excellent user experience, they will be able to stand out from the competition.

• He emphasized that from the beginning, the team has attached great importance to the feedback and needs of developers. They realized that many developers had difficulties in other ecosystems (such as Ethereum), so the Move language provided by SUI was seen as a "breath of fresh air". Many developers appreciated the ease of use and security of the Move language after trying other platforms, which helped them get started and build applications faster.

• As time goes by, more and more developers begin to join the SUI ecosystem, and through word-of-mouth, more people are attracted to participate. Adeniyi believes that existing developers are the best spokespersons for the SUI platform. They actively introduce the advantages of the Move language to developers in other ecosystems, further promoting the development of SUI.

• In addition, he mentioned that the growth of the ecosystem is also an important factor in attracting developers. With the increase of projects on SUI, developers see more opportunities and potential, and are willing to invest time and energy to build applications. This natural growth trend makes SUI's developer community more and more active.

What drives the growth of the SUI community?

• When discussing the drivers of SUI’s community growth, Adeniyi noted that in addition to developer interest and community growth, there are multiple other factors driving this growth. He mentioned some key examples and features that have played an important role in SUI’s success.

Excellent trading experience

• Adeniyi cited the example of Blue Fin, which initially deployed on Arbitrum, but after trying SUI, found that traders were 20 times more profitable on SUI than on Arbitrum. This was mainly due to SUI's lower gas fees, faster transaction finalization time, and better arbitrage opportunities. This significant performance improvement attracted more developers and users to switch to SUI.

Innovative technical features:

• SUI introduces a ZK login mechanism, which allows users to easily create on-chain accounts through Web 2 accounts without traditional wallet operations. In addition, the sponsored transaction function allows users to pay gas fees in the background, which enables SUI to provide a user experience similar to Web 2 while enjoying the advantages of Web 3.

Low latency and high performance:

• Adeniyi emphasized that SUI is one of the chains with the lowest latency in the market, and the actual final confirmation speed of transactions is much faster than other chains. This speed is especially important for transactions, which can quickly return the final confirmation after the user clicks submit, greatly improving the user experience.

Programmable transaction blocks

• SUI's unique programmable transaction block feature allows users to execute multiple interdependent transactions in a single transaction, which provides unprecedented opportunities for arbitrage. Users can package up to 1024 transactions in one transaction, and this efficient processing method enhances the attractiveness of the platform.

Potential in the gaming sector:

• Adeniyi also mentioned that although there are some problems with Web 3 games at present, he believes that future games will be more interesting and can enhance the player experience through Web 3 technology. They plan to launch the SUI Play XRX 1 game console, which will be embedded with a SUI account, and users can log in with a normal email and password and get rewards and assets through games.

Product Market Fit:

• As more and more developers build applications on SUI, market adaptability continues to increase, and the transaction volume of DEX and other applications is also growing rapidly. All this shows that SUI is gradually forming a healthy ecosystem.

Future plans for SUI Wallet

• In an interview about the future plans of SUI Wallet, Adeniyi Abiodun mentioned several key points that showcase the development direction and upcoming features of SUI Wallet.

Introducing other wallets:

• Adeniyi mentioned that the SUI ecosystem will introduce wallets from other ecosystems, although he did not reveal specific details. This means that users will have more options and can use different wallets to access the SUI ecosystem.

Continuous enhancement of wallet functions

• Since the launch of SUI Wallet, the team has been continuously adding new features. Adeniyi emphasized that although the functions of SUI Wallet are relatively few at present, they are working hard to improve the user experience and plan to launch more built-in functions by the end of the year.

Simplify the flow of funds

• The SUI wallet will focus on simplifying the process of users getting their money in and out, including the ability to deposit and withdraw cash directly from the wallet. This will include support for payment methods such as debit cards so that users can more easily convert funds.

Transparency of transaction information

• Adeniyi also mentioned that they are considering providing more information about transactions, such as price history and transaction records. These simple features will help users better understand their transactions and thus improve the overall experience.

The Importance of User Feedback

• The team attaches great importance to feedback from the community and said that they will continue to improve the wallet functions based on user opinions. They hope to improve user satisfaction and usage experience in this way.

Future User Activities

• As other wallets join, Adeniyi expects user activity in the SUI ecosystem to increase significantly, which will further drive the development of SUI.

Interesting projects developed on SUI

• Adeniyi mentioned some interesting projects currently being developed in the SUI ecosystem that demonstrate the diversity and innovation of the SUI platform.

Aggregator Platform

• Adeniyi emphasized that there are multiple aggregator projects on SUI that can help users find the best trading path. For example, aggregators such as Hop, Aftermath, and Situs can view all liquidity pools and trading positions on the entire chain, thereby providing users with the best transaction execution. Users can achieve efficient transactions with just one click of a button, which is not possible on other chains.

Debook

• This is a decentralized central limit order book, and Adeniyi is very excited about this project. Debook provides liquidity infrastructure for DeFi products on SUI, and all major DeFi applications have been connected. Compared with automated market makers (AMMs), using a central limit order book to trade highly liquid assets is more efficient and can reduce slippage issues. The launch of Debook has enabled SUI to excel in high-frequency trading and liquidity management.

Global Trading Engine

• Adeniyi believes that Debook has the potential to become a global trading engine that can support the trading of multi-chain products. For example, users can start a transaction on Solana, but it will eventually be completed on Debook, which can ensure the best transaction execution and lower fees.

Liquidity Provider (LP) Rewards

• Some projects are developing mechanisms that allow users to provide liquidity directly on a central order book and receive rewards, which is usually done by market makers. Adeniyi believes that market makers will be more decentralized in the future.

SUI Blazer X1

• This is a gaming device that is currently on pre-sale and has been warmly welcomed by the SUI community. Adeniyi pointed out that about 20% of the purchases came from the SUI community and 25% from the Solana community, which shows the influence and appeal of SUI in the gaming field.

SUI's Gaming Equipment

• In this segment, Adeniyi Abiodun details SUI’s new gaming device and its potential in the Web3 ecosystem.

Equipment design concept

• Adeniyi stressed that SUI's gaming devices are not designed to provide short-term incentives or airdrops. He believes that the reason why users buy devices should be their own value and functions, rather than pure economic incentives. He mentioned that high-consumption products like iPhones will not be easily replaced, and users are more concerned about the practicality and experience of the device.

Versatility

• This device can not only play games from platforms such as Steam and Epic, but also allows users to enjoy games anytime, anywhere when traveling. It supports in-app purchases of Web3 games, avoiding the high fees of traditional app stores, which provides greater convenience for players.

User-Friendliness

• Adeniyi said the device’s operating system is designed to simplify the user experience so that players don’t have to choose between different platforms. Users can trade and buy cryptocurrencies on the device, and the built-in wallet function makes it easy for users to perform various operations.

Market Potential

• There are already about 3,300 pre-orders. Adeniyi revealed that SUI is focusing on early adopters and plans to launch a wider market next year. He expects the market to expand further as other manufacturers begin to develop similar SUI Play devices.

Future Outlook

• Adeniyi believes that the SUI Play device could become the dominant wallet in the Web3 space, providing a seamless gaming and crypto experience for regular users. He mentioned that the device’s operating system has been completed and is undergoing testing, and is expected to be officially launched early next year.

The difference between SUI and Aptos

Team Background

• Adeniyi emphasized that the SUI team has made important contributions to the Libra project, and the core members have accumulated rich experience in multiple Meta projects, including the development of encryption technology and consensus mechanisms. Compared with Aptos, the background and experience of the SUI team give it a unique advantage in technological innovation and product development.

Technical Architecture

• Multi-machine system : SUI is a multi-machine system that can achieve horizontal expansion, and adding more machines can increase processing speed. However, Aptos and other blockchains may cause performance degradation when adding machines.

• Parallelized transactions: SUI allows transactions to be processed in parallel by increasing the number of working nodes, which is outstanding in improving efficiency.

• Object-driven model: SUI adopts an object-driven programming model, which makes it more natural for developers to write code, especially for those who are familiar with object-oriented programming. This is different from Aptos' account-driven model, which may not be as intuitive as SUI in terms of development experience.

Ecosystem Development

• Adeniyi pointed out that despite SUI’s shorter launch time, it has outperformed Aptos in multiple metrics including developer adoption, total locked value (TVL), transaction volume, and wallet growth, indicating that SUI has achieved significant success in building a community and attracting developers.

Community Building

• Instead of launching the ecosystem through airdrops, SUI focuses on building relationships with long-term ecosystem partners. Adeniyi believes that ecosystems that rely on airdrops tend to attract short-term users who may leave after receiving rewards. Therefore, SUI pays more attention to cultivating users who really care about the development of the ecosystem.

Goals and Vision

• Adeniyi expressed SUI's vision, not just to win the Web3 market, but to become a decentralized alternative for Internet interactions. He believes that SUI has unique potential in building a platform suitable for all developers.

Security

• He mentioned that as more chains adopt the Move programming language, the security of the entire ecosystem will be enhanced. The Move language is designed to improve the security of smart contracts, which is crucial for the widespread adoption of Web3.

SUI Partnerships

Partner Strategy

• Adeniyi mentioned that SUI has established partnerships with several companies, but they don’t rely too much on a lot of PR and press releases. They focus more on meaningful collaborations with partners and showcasing the uniqueness of SUI compared to other blockchains. He believes that simple partnership announcements do not really reflect the value of collaboration.

Developers First

• Adeniyi emphasized that SUI focuses on attracting developers who can build differentiated experiences. He believes that excellent developers can create attractive applications, which is more important than simple corporate cooperation. He mentioned that many developers from Web2 and Web3 have excellent ideas, but they cannot be realized on traditional platforms, so SUI hopes to work with these developers to promote innovation.

Upcoming Tools

• Adeniyi mentioned that SUI will launch a tool called "bug bar". This is an AI tool designed to help developers find vulnerabilities in the code, thereby reducing security issues that may occur after the code is released, such as hacker attacks and financial losses. He said that this tool will be open to the entire ecosystem, whether it is SUI, Aptos or Solana developers. This shows that SUI is very concerned about improving the health of the entire Web3 ecosystem.

Views on corporate cooperation

• Although Adeniyi recognizes the importance of corporate cooperation, he believes that the real driving force lies in developers and the applications they create. He believes that by attracting excellent developers, SUI can establish a more competitive position in the market.

Ecosystem health

• Adeniyi stressed that the overall health of the Web3 ecosystem is of vital importance to all participants. He mentioned that any major security incidents (such as large-scale hacking attacks) will have a negative impact on the entire ecosystem, so he hopes to improve security and reliability through SUI's tools and collaborations.

Technology Upgrade and Its Importance

Adeniyi Abiodun discusses the importance of SUI’s recently released consensus mechanism, Mr. SETI, and how it differs from other blockchain consensus mechanisms such as Solana.

The Importance of Mr. SETI

• Adeniyi pointed out that when SUI was launched on the mainnet, it used Bullshark as the consensus mechanism, which was the lowest latency and most scalable mechanism on the market at the time. However, the team believed that it could be further improved, so they developed Mr. SETI, a consensus mechanism based on a directed acyclic graph (DAG). The goal of this new mechanism is to make transaction confirmation faster than the loading time of the website visited by users, achieving lower latency and higher throughput.

Low latency and high throughput

• Using Mr. SETI, SUI is able to process 100,000 transactions per second while ensuring that transactions are confirmed in less than one second. This is in stark contrast to other blockchains, which tend to experience significant latency increases at high throughput. Adeniyi emphasized that SUI is designed so that confirmation times are always kept under one second regardless of transaction volume, laying the foundation for mass adoption.

Expansion of application scenarios

• The low-latency consensus mechanism makes it possible to conduct applications such as games and transactions on the chain. Adeniyi believes that fast transaction confirmation can instantly record every action and transaction, greatly increasing arbitrage opportunities. This efficient transaction processing capability will promote the development of more applications and further promote the growth of the SUI ecosystem.

Stable Gas Fees

• Adeniyi also mentioned that SUI's Gas fees are relatively stable and consistent with the US dollar. As the technology is upgraded, validators will be able to adjust Gas fees based on the operating costs of the infrastructure and appropriate profit margins. This mechanism ensures that Gas fees will not fluctuate significantly even if the transaction volume processed by the network surges, providing predictability in fees for corporate users.

Attractiveness for enterprise users

• For enterprise users, predictability of fees is critical. Adeniyi stressed that enterprises should not bear higher transaction costs because of their success. The stable fee structure provided by SUI means that whether making a single transaction or multiple transactions, the fees will remain the same, which supports the business model of enterprises.

Walrus Upgrade

Adeniyi Abiodun introduced Walrus, a major upgrade of SUI, explaining its function, importance and how it differs from existing storage solutions.

Definition of Walrus

• Walrus is a decentralized storage platform, not just simple storage, but programmable storage. This storage method will enable users to achieve many functions that were not possible before the Internet. Adeniyi mentioned that the SUI team likes to use marine mammals as product names, and Walrus also continues this theme.

Storage cost advantage

• Adeniyi pointed out that Walrus' storage costs are much cheaper than other blockchains such as Solana and Ethereum. For example, the cost of storing data on SUI is 100 times cheaper than Solana and 2,000 times cheaper than Ethereum. Still, storing large amounts of data is relatively expensive, so Walrus aims to provide a more cost-effective solution.

New Mechanic: Red Shift

• Walrus introduces a new mechanism called Red Shift, which allows data to be fully redundant by replicating it only five times on multiple nodes. This means that even if 1/3 to 2/3 of the nodes in the network fail, users can still access and write data. This mechanism is unique among other protocols.

Programmable storage

• The storage provided by Walrus is fully programmable, allowing users to store PB-level data in a decentralized manner. For example, Adeniyi mentioned that the Internet Archive can use Walrus to store its entire archive and manage storage fees through smart contracts to achieve continuous financial support.

Decentralized web hosting

• Walrus can not only store data, but also host entire websites. Adeniyi mentioned that Decrypt will use Walrus to run its website, which means that the website's data release, storage capacity, modification history and other information will be verifiable and cannot be tampered with. This provides a new foundation for future information dissemination and media operations.

Censorship resistance

• Walrus is seen as an important infrastructure for the future of information distribution that is resistant to censorship. Adeniyi believes that this storage solution will facilitate the establishment of decentralized social media platforms and ensure that important data (such as that of the Library of Congress) can be securely stored and accessed.

Integration with SUI

• Walrus will be combined with SUI’s computing layer to form a complete decentralized stack. In addition, Adeniyi also mentioned that SUI will develop a network layer to further enhance the capabilities of decentralized applications.

Improved security

• Because SUI's DNS system is tightly integrated with Walrus, users will enjoy greater security when accessing Walrus websites, avoiding the risk of DNS attacks and asset theft.

SUI's DNS system

Online time

• Adeniyi said Walrus is expected to go live early next year. The system is already in the testing phase and is being integrated with multiple ecosystems, including the Ethereum community.

System Features

• SUI's DNS system will be closely integrated with the Walrus storage platform to provide users with a more secure and decentralized website access experience. Through this integration, users can ensure that the websites they visit are verifiable, thereby reducing the risk of DNS attacks.

Ecosystem Integration

• Adeniyi mentioned that SUI’s DNS system is not limited to SUI’s own ecology, but will also cooperate with other blockchain communities to enhance its cross-chain interoperability and application scope.

How SUI works in politics and economics

Blockchain as a business mechanism

• Adeniyi believes that blockchain will become the cheapest mechanism for conducting business transactions. As users and assets gradually migrate to blockchain, the cost of conducting business activities using this technology will be significantly reduced. This means that centralized companies will have to consider how to use this emerging technology to improve their business efficiency and market coverage.

The transformation of centralized companies

• Adeniyi predicts that companies like Facebook and Google will eventually adopt blockchain technology to enhance their business models. For example, he mentioned the partnership with Movie Pass, which uses SUI and USDC mechanisms to pay users and provide rewards. This shift will allow these companies to better meet user needs and innovate using the advantages of blockchain.

The concept of Web 3

• Adeniyi emphasized that when building Web 3 applications, they should be done under a decentralized architecture. He believes that while some companies may still choose centralized solutions (for example, trusting Google to store data), decentralized solutions will be more attractive when it comes to governance and data accessibility.

Governance and Data Storage

• For use cases that require governance and data sovereignty, the decentralized storage solutions provided by Walrus and SUI will be a good fit. These use cases may include scenarios where it is necessary to ensure that data is not tampered with and is always accessible, which are the advantages of decentralized platforms.

Future adaptability

• Adeniyi believes that as technology evolves, governments and centralized institutions will have to adapt to the change to take advantage of the new opportunities and challenges that blockchain brings. They may realize that blockchain is not just a technological tool, but a foundation for redefining business and data governance.

How many unique active wallets does SUI expect to have?

Current number of active wallets

• Adeniyi mentioned that SUI currently has approximately 27 to 28 million active wallets.

Future predictions

• He predicted that by next year (November 8, 2025), the number of unique active wallets of SUI could exceed 120 million. He stressed that this growth is based on the continuous expansion of the SUI ecosystem and the increase in the user base.

The potential of gaming ecosystem

• Adeniyi believes that by 2030, the vast majority of gamers will be playing on the SUI platform. According to him, there were 3.3 billion gamers worldwide last year, who spent a total of about $200 billion on games. He believes that SUI will be able to capture a major share of this market.

Advantages of ZK login mechanism

• Adeniyi also mentioned that SUI attracts Web 2 users through the ZK login mechanism, which will enable it to far surpass other platforms in terms of user growth. He is confident that SUI can achieve these goals.

Ecosystem needs

• He pointed out that as games become more popular, developers need to implement business mechanisms such as token swaps, decentralized exchange (DEX) functions, and point reward systems on SUI, which will further promote the use of SUI and the growth of the number of wallets.

How many developers are expected to use Move?

Current developer ratio

• Adeniyi mentioned that according to recent reports, about 7% of current monthly active developers use Move. He expects the next report to show that this proportion will exceed 10%.

Future goals

• He has set a goal of attracting more than 25,000 active Move developers by November 2025, a number he believes is critical to driving Move's growth.

Competition for market share:

• Adeniyi emphasized that Move’s goal is not to simply grab market share from existing chains, but to build a strong developer community across the entire blockchain ecosystem. He believes that 25,000 active developers will bring significant growth and influence to Move.

The team's efforts

• He said the team will work hard to achieve this goal to promote the widespread application of the Move language and the construction of the ecosystem.

Total locked value (TVL) of all Move blockchains

Current TVL Numbers

• Adeniyi mentioned that the total locked value of all Move blockchains is currently between $1 billion and $2 billion.

Future predictions

• He predicts that by next year (2025), this number could grow 10 times, which means the total locked value could reach 10 times of $1 billion to $2 billion, or $10 billion to $20 billion.

Growth Potential

• Adeniyi ’s prediction reflects his confidence in the future development of the Move ecosystem, believing that the locked value will increase significantly as the number of developers and users increases.

Will SUI surpass Sol?

Current TVL Comparison

• Adeniyi noted that SUI’s current TVL is around $1.1 billion. He acknowledged that Solana’s TVL is also strong, so it’s not fair to directly compare the two over a short period of time.

Growth Potential

• He emphasized that from the growth trajectory, SUI is ahead of Solana in both growth rate and cycle. He is positive about the future of SUI and believes that if the team can continue to deliver and maintain the current growth momentum, SUI has the potential to become the first chain.

Key factors for success

• Adeniyi believes that the key to success is to develop attractive applications that solve real user problems. He mentioned that attracting excellent developers to build successful projects on SUI will be an important factor in promoting the development of SUI.

Long-term goals

• He said SUI's goal is to win the hearts and minds of developers and ensure they can build successfully and profitably on SUI, thereby providing products and services to a wider range of users.

Important updates coming soon

Mr SETI Upgrade

• Adeniyi mentioned that SUI recently launched Mr SETI, an upgrade to the consensus protocol. This upgrade will be carried out in two phases:

  • The first phase was completed by the middle of this year.

  • The second phase, expected to launch early next year, will bring even more significant performance improvements.

Performance improvements

• The second phase will merge the "fast path" with Mr SETI, which is expected to significantly reduce transaction latency. He pointed out that the current SUI single-commit transaction benchmark on the mainnet is about 297,000 transactions per second, and this number is expected to increase further.

Future Outlook

• Adeniyi said SUI is working to optimize existing cores for faster speeds and plans to expand the system by adding more machines. He expects to see some powerful consumer applications come online next year.