At the Basecamp event synchronized with Token2049, SUI measured 40,614,180 TPS—40.61 million transactions per second on site, and the third-party security firm CertiK verified it on the spot. Sounds like an astronomical number, right? But I need to cool things off for you:
That figure is not the number of 40 million+ transactions per second that the SUI mainnet actually processes on-chain.
It relies on a system called Tunnels—off-chain tunnels.
In simple terms: transactions happen at high speed off-chain first, with no gas. Then, once the tunnel closes, the final state is settled back to the mainnet. All of that requires only two transactions (open + close). It’s fast and verifiable, but it’s not the same as the speed you’re used to when you send 1 U.
Let’s compare for a clearer perspective: Visa’s global network averaged only about 8,165 transactions per second in 2025. SUI’s 40.61 million is the ceiling of an extreme stress test, not everyday real throughput.
Three months ago, on May 4, SUI was at 6.08 million TPS. Now it’s more than 6 times higher. Mysten Labs’ CEO said this is paving the way for the AI agent era in advance—when thousands upon thousands of AI agents transfer and pay each other, you’ll need infrastructure like these pipelines to make it work.
My take:
The numbers are indeed mind-blowing, and CertiK’s verification is a plus. But everyday people shouldn’t get dazzled by a ten-thousand-word spectacle of digits. The real craftsmanship is whether this system can make it so you and I can transfer funds quickly, cheaply, and reliably too. Until then, it’s more like a beautiful $SUI
That figure is not the number of 40 million+ transactions per second that the SUI mainnet actually processes on-chain.
It relies on a system called Tunnels—off-chain tunnels.
In simple terms: transactions happen at high speed off-chain first, with no gas. Then, once the tunnel closes, the final state is settled back to the mainnet. All of that requires only two transactions (open + close). It’s fast and verifiable, but it’s not the same as the speed you’re used to when you send 1 U.
Let’s compare for a clearer perspective: Visa’s global network averaged only about 8,165 transactions per second in 2025. SUI’s 40.61 million is the ceiling of an extreme stress test, not everyday real throughput.
Three months ago, on May 4, SUI was at 6.08 million TPS. Now it’s more than 6 times higher. Mysten Labs’ CEO said this is paving the way for the AI agent era in advance—when thousands upon thousands of AI agents transfer and pay each other, you’ll need infrastructure like these pipelines to make it work.
My take:
The numbers are indeed mind-blowing, and CertiK’s verification is a plus. But everyday people shouldn’t get dazzled by a ten-thousand-word spectacle of digits. The real craftsmanship is whether this system can make it so you and I can transfer funds quickly, cheaply, and reliably too. Until then, it’s more like a beautiful $SUI