On-chain trackers for $SUI recently showed that the total supply of stablecoins on the network "has once again reached $500 million," with Defillama confirming this data and even suggesting that the circulating stablecoin supply on Sui has been fluctuating around this level for many consecutive months.
Last May, the stablecoin balance on the Sui network peaked at $1.6 billion, then fell to approximately $492 million (a drop of about 69%) by the end of the first half of 2026. Since then, this metric appears to have remained stable.
The stabilization of the supply volume contrasts with what is happening in the transaction sphere. In May, Mysten Labs, Sui's core development company, implemented a protocol-level change that reduced stablecoin transfer fees to zero and eliminated the requirement to hold native $SUI tokens solely for fund transfers. This feature applies to seven stablecoins, including $USDC, USDsui, SuiUSDe, AUSD, FDUSD, USDB, and USDY.
Since then, the zero-fee model has stimulated active network usage: as of June 10, Sui has processed over $65 billion in stablecoin transfers without fees, with the cumulative stablecoin transaction volume on the network since the beginning of 2024 exceeding $2.27 trillion (totaling 16 billion transactions).
CertiK, the security company that tracked the $65 billion figure, did not disclose which specific stablecoins or counterparties comprised this volume. Mysten Labs co-founder Adeniyi Abiodun claims that this change removes "unnecessary complexity" from stablecoin infrastructure and could position Sui as an alternative to traditional payment systems.
Other segments of the Sui ecosystem have shown more noticeable growth this month: as reported earlier this month by Bitcoin.com News, Sui's Hashi bridge testnet, launched on July 22, processed over 1.1 million deposit transactions and over 165,000 withdrawal transactions in three weeks.
Throughput is Growing, Storage Volume Remains Unchanged
The difference between growing transfer volumes and unchanged stored value volumes is not unusual for a payment-focused chain. Zero-fee systems incentivize the rapid movement of stablecoins between wallets and applications, rather than their simple storage on the network, so high settlement volume does not always automatically lead to an increase in circulating stablecoin supply.
In any case, if the supply volume of stablecoins on the Sui network significantly exceeds $500 million, it will likely depend on new issuance or fresh institutional adoption, not just transfer activity. $USDC remains the dominant stablecoin on the network, and any expansion from Circle or other issuers, as well as the emergence of new native offerings, will be more direct catalysts to watch than the existing transfer fee mechanisms.
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