Sui (SUI) is a unique Layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform that seeks to enhance digital asset ownership by making it fast, private, and aims to be accessible to everyone. Built on the Move programming language, Sui's object-centric model allows for parallel execution, sub-second finality, and rich on-chain assets. This innovative platform strives to support a wide range of applications with unrivaled speed at low cost, thanks to its horizontally scalable processing and storage. Sui was initially contributed to by Mysten Labs, founded by former executives and lead architects of Meta’s Novi Research.

Sui operates through a series of unique features such as horizontal scaling, composability, sparse replay, and on-chain storage. In the Sui network, each group of transactions is processed in parallel, eliminating the bottlenecking that occurs in some earlier blockchains. Sui's object-centric approach allows for more complex data structures and the ability to store assets inside such structures. Sparse replay means that game builders, for example, don't need to track transactions interacting with unrelated dApps, making querying on-chain data less expensive. Lastly, because assets are directly stored as objects on the Sui blockchain, they are never subject to Merkle tree indexing, making it cheaper to directly update assets on-chain.

Sui's unique features open up a wide range of potential use cases. Its object-centric model and on-chain storage capabilities make it a potential platform for creating and managing digital assets, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The ability to process transactions in parallel and achieve sub-second finality could make Sui a suitable platform for high-speed applications, such as gaming or financial services. Furthermore, Sui's use of the Move programming language allows developers to build user-friendly experiences, potentially expanding the reach of blockchain technology to new audiences.

Sui was initially contributed to by Mysten Labs, a team of former executives and lead architects from Meta’s Novi Research, responsible for the Diem blockchain and Move programming language. The team, including Evan Cheng, Adeniyi Abiodun, Sam Blackshear, George Danezis, and Kostas Chalkias, aimed to create a blockchain platform that seeks to enhance digital asset ownership. Sui's mainnet is planned for launch in the future. The platform has undergone several updates since its inception, including a switch to the Bullshark consensus algorithm in August 2022 to reduce latency issues and ensure that validators with lower processing speeds could still contribute to the project.

On-chain storage plays an integral role in SUI's architecture, supporting distinct product features while remaining economically feasible. On-chain storage refers to the practice of storing data directly on a blockchain, enhancing composability and providing enhanced functionality. SUI's distinctive economic model introduces a substantial storage fund, providing the option to store data on-chain indefinitely. This storage fund rewards validators for ensuring the continuous availability of data posted to the blockchain. SUI simplifies the process of storing data on general-purpose blockchains, treating arbitrary data storage the same as data used for smart contracts and other typical purposes. This seamless integration is facilitated by SUI's unique data model and economic design, allowing for economically feasible data posting and the option for updates as desired. The objective of on-chain storage is to reduce reliance on centralized entities for data storage and management while ensuring it remains within the protocol where it is required.

SUI's object-centric model treats objects as the fundamental building blocks, providing a different perspective on digital asset ownership. Unlike traditional Layer-1 blockchains where accounts serve as the primary data storage unit, SUI's approach allows objects, representing user-level assets, to be programmable entities defined, created, and managed by developers. These objects and their attributes are stored directly on-chain within the user's account, granting full access and control to the asset owner. This model provides digital assets with potential for increased context and utility over time. It aims to enhance transaction processing efficiency and latency as changes to one owned object don't affect others, allowing for parallel processing. SUI's model provides different options for digital asset ownership, including individual ownership, shared ownership, and ownership by other objects.

The SUI token serves multiple purposes within its ecosystem. It can be staked to participate in the network's proof-of-stake mechanism, contributing to the network's security and consensus. SUI is the asset denomination required to pay the gas fees for executing and storing transactions or other operations on the Sui network. SUI can be used as a versatile and liquid asset for various applications, including standard functionalities and more complex functionalities enabled by smart contracts, interoperability, and composability across the Sui ecosystem. The SUI token plays a role in governance, granting holders the right to participate in on-chain voting on issues such as protocol upgrades. As Sui develops further use cases and engages users, the SUI token is designed with a finite supply, aligning with the network's operational structure.

SUI addresses the blockchain trilemma of scalability, security, and decentralization through a combination of unique features. It uses a delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which aims to address aspects of security and decentralization. To address scalability, SUI employs parallel transaction execution, a method intended to improve transaction processing times. Additionally, SUI uses the Move programming language for executing smart contracts, aiming to enhance flexibility for various applications. This combination of features is how SUI seeks to maintain a balance between decentralization, security, and scalability, with the intention of facilitating a digital asset ownership experience for users.

Sparse replay is a feature of the SUI network that aims to provide potential benefits to developers. In a typical blockchain, every transaction is recorded in a ledger. However, for SUI developers, particularly those building games, there's no need to track transactions interacting with unrelated decentralized applications (dApps). Querying on-chain data can be resource-intensive and time-consuming, so sparse replay seeks to allow developers to follow the evolution of the objects in their game without having to extract data from the Merkle tree. This feature aims to improve efficiency and minimize resource usage, with the intention of allowing developers to concentrate on their applications.