Crypto builder and influencer Matteo famously quipped “Sui has got no community” next to a packed Sui Basecamp photo – clearly trolling. In reality, Sui does have a growing fam. In April 2024 Sui’s own blog reported 1,100+ attendees from 65+ countries at Basecamp Paris, and Dubai’s Basecamp 2025 is equally packed. The SuiFam is out there – but what it lacks is Solana’s secret sauce: the tight-knit, meme-fueled cabal of whales, VCs, and memelords that drives hype on $SOL.
Let’s break down what Solana has built off-chain (IRL events, culture, tokenomics, etc.) and how Sui can build its own version – or better.
IRL Hype & Hacker Houses
Solana’s off-chain game is on another level. The Solana Foundation funds flagship conferences and co-hosts mega-events globally. There are Solana hacker houses and meetups from Tokyo to Toronto. Builders literally bump into each other in Solana’s ecosystem.
Sui is building the party bus but it’s smaller. Mysten Labs runs Sui Basecamps and smaller hackathons like Sui Overflow. The “Road to Sui Overflow” shows workshops and hackerhouses in cities worldwide. But these are still fledgling.
To catch up, Sui needs:
- Regular build events
- Dev hubs
- Travel fellowships
Culture & Memes: Degen Vibes vs. Serious Biz
Solana’s culture is 100% “degen”. Memecoins, NFT pumps, and inside jokes power the movement. Apps like Jupiter include a “Memecoin Terminal” and command 95% of swap volume. Solana’s daily DEX volume exploded post-election meme frenzy.
Sui’s tone is more sober: “by builders, for builders.” There's no viral memecoin yet. Sui’s outreach is clean – but “degens” need dopamine.
Also, in this industry, memes aren’t just casino chips — they’re catalysts. Around the memecoin movement, there’s now a whole stack of Telegram bots, sniping tools, community dashboards, and social trading overlays. It’s evolving into a parallel UX layer for crypto. Sui doesn’t need to bet everything on memes, but it should recognize the design space: dopamine loops, fast discovery, and cultural liquidity. Ignoring that would mean ceding the next generation of retail UX to others.
To compete:
- Launch meme contests
- Embrace a “Sui coin” culture moment
- Gamify social growth with “degen” flair
On-Chain DeFi & Liquidity
Solana’s DeFi ecosystem is one of the strongest in crypto, with TVL hovering around $8B. It's not just about volume — it's about structure. Projects like Jupiter (swap aggregator + perps + launchpad), Jito (liquid staking + MEV), MarginFi (lending), Drift (perpetuals), and Raydium (AMM) form the backbone of capital flows on Solana. Liquidity is deep, usage is sticky, and composability is real. The user comes for the memecoins, stays for the yield.
Sui’s TVL is sitting around $1.8B, which is impressive for a newer chain, but still 4–5x behind Solana. It has early movers like Cetus (AMM and DEX), Scallop (lending), and Navis (perps), but no breakout DeFi app yet that’s drawing in billions. There's no “Jito moment,” no protocol that drives user retention and cross-protocol liquidity. Money markets are thin. Stablecoin liquidity is shallow — USDs is growing, but Sui lacks a robust native or bridged stable ecosystem.
There’s potential. Sui’s architecture is great for low-latency trading. But DeFi here needs its hero protocols and deep, sticky capital.
Action items:
- Bootstrap new DeFi primitives (think: leverage, options, structured products)
- Incentivize LPs and builders with targeted yield and grants
- Deepen stablecoin liquidity through bridges, partnerships, and maybe a native Sui-backed stable
- Support aggregators or dashboards to highlight Sui’s growing DeFi stack Sui’s TVL is ~$1.8B. It lacks anchor DeFi protocols with major TVL or revenue. Without strong money markets and stables, adoption lags.
Developer Loyalty & Resilience
Solana suffered outages (every 3 months, lol) – but devs stayed. It retained ~2,500–3,000 monthly active devs even during chaos. That loyalty built the flywheel. Thank you, Alevtina and famous Hacker houses!
Sui hasn’t had its “oh shit” moment yet. But dev retention will matter. The Foundation must:
- Reward loyalty (grants, kudos, community calls)
- Keep the docs, SDKs, and bug bounties flowing
- Promote early believers
Tokenomics & Liquidity Strategy
Solana’s tokenomics benefited from structured FTX sales to long-term funds (e.g. $2.6B to Pantera and Figure with 4-year vesting). Staking absorbs inflation.
Sui has front-loaded token supply with a 1-year cliff (now over). It avoids inflation and FTX baggage but lacks staking intensity or strategic unlock alignment.
To fix this:
- Keep unlocks predictable
- Reward participation (airdrop 2.0?)
- Expand liquidity mining programs
How Sui Can Build Its Own Cabal
Solana wins because of critical mass. Once enough believers (builders, whales, KOLs) commit, the rest follows. Sui needs its own flywheel:
Playbook:
- Sui Builder DAO: governance + capital + GTM support
- Curated Launchpad: high-signal projects get marketing + liquidity
- IRL Expansion: hackerhouses with “degen” flavor (NFT nights, meme jams)
- Degen Campaigns: social competitions, memecoin launch events
- Narrative Strengthening: clear slogans, inside jokes, symbolic campaigns
Can SUI biome new Sol?
Sui doesn’t need to copy Solana — but it must outmaneuver it with intentional, narrative-first moves. It has the tech. It has some community. But now’s the time to lock in culture, capital, and conviction.
Sui can become the L1 that blends geek brilliance with “degen” fire.
But maybe… it won’t. Maybe Sui won’t be the next Solana. Maybe it will never match the meme-fueled chaos, or the endless NFT carnivals, or the “degens” punting liquidity like it’s 2021 again.
And maybe that’s exactly what makes Sui interesting.
Because the market is changing. Institutions are entering. Builders are maturing. The next cycle may not be won by the loudest chain, but by the most durable one. The one that balances performance, predictability, and real-world use cases. Maybe that’s where Sui shines — not as the next Solana, but as the first Sui: a new breed of L1 that speaks both to developers and to a maturing market.
Solana will always be Vegas. But Sui could be Singapore.
And in the long run, that’s a hell of a bet.
