Hold onto your wallets, Sui enthusiasts—because the blockchain that has been quietly stacking win after win just dropped a bombshell that has DeFi Twitter buzzing like a hive of caffeinated bees. On October 1, 2025, SUI Group Holdings (NASDAQ: SUIG) announced a landmark partnership with Ethena Labs and the Sui Foundation to launch suiUSDe and USDi, the first native stablecoins on the Sui network (BusinessWire).
At the center of this development lies Ethena’s powerhouse synthetic dollar, USDe, seamlessly integrated into Sui’s lightning-fast ecosystem. This move allows users to mint, stake, and spend dollar-pegged assets natively—no more clunky bridges, no more third-party reliance on USDC or USDT. The result? Yield-bearing stability with the potential to transform idle SUI tokens into a passive income engine.
Why Sui Needed Native Stablecoins
Since its mainnet launch in 2023, Sui has been gaining traction thanks to its unique object-centric architecture and blazing performance. Built by former Meta engineers from the Diem project, Sui was designed for parallel execution, boasting the potential to handle 120,000 transactions per second—a feat far beyond Ethereum’s current limits (CoinDesk).
Despite its rapid growth—already topping $30 billion in ecosystem TVL—Sui faced a critical missing puzzle piece: native stablecoins. Until now, users were forced to bridge in USDC or USDT, paying high fees and sacrificing composability. This bottleneck made DeFi less attractive on Sui compared to competitors like Solana or Ethereum.
Introducing suiUSDe and USDi
The partnership solves that. With suiUSDe, users gain access to a synthetic dollar forked from Ethena’s proven USDe model. Unlike fiat-backed stablecoins, suiUSDe is supported by delta-neutral hedges—long positions in crypto (BTC, ETH) offset by short futures. This creates yield opportunities without exposing holders to wild volatility (CCN).
Meanwhile, USDi offers a more traditional, 1:1 backed stablecoin, tied directly to BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized fund, which itself invests in U.S. Treasuries. Through tokenization via Securitize, USDi combines traditional finance stability with on-chain accessibility. Launching by year-end, both coins will be minted natively on Sui, ensuring ultra-low fees and instant transactions.
As Marius Barnett, Chairman of SUI Group, put it:
“We’re building a ‘SUI Bank’—a liquidity hub where dollar stability meets Sui’s composability.” (BusinessWire).
Ethena’s USDe: A Synthetic Dollar Powerhouse
To understand why this collaboration matters, you need to appreciate Ethena’s rise. Since its explosive debut in 2024, USDe has skyrocketed to $14.8 billion in circulation, making it the third-largest USD stablecoin after USDT and USDC (HOKA News).
The secret sauce? Ethena doesn’t rely on fiat reserves. Instead, it runs a delta-neutral vault system, blending crypto long positions with perpetual futures shorts, plus staking rewards. This structure has allowed yield-bearing sUSDe to generate APYs ranging from 7% in bear markets to 20% during bull runs.
Even more importantly, Ethena offers “Stablecoin-as-a-Service,” enabling chains to deploy their own tailored stable assets. Sui is the first non-EVM chain to benefit from this model (CryptoNinjas). For users, this means sovereign stablecoin access without dependence on Circle or Tether, solving single-point failures and improving decentralization.
The Triple Threat: SUI Group, Ethena, and the Sui Foundation
This initiative is more than a token launch—it’s a strategic power play. Each partner brings unique strengths:
- SUI Group Holdings: The Nasdaq-listed entity brings corporate scale, treasury expertise, and liquidity. SUIG stock already jumped 15% on the announcement (CryptoBriefing).
- Ethena Labs: Supplies the tech stack, including ZK-proof redemptions and oracle-driven peg maintenance.
- Sui Foundation: Oversees governance, adoption incentives, and grants to bootstrap stablecoin-powered dApps.
Their combined goal is simple but ambitious: expand DeFi liquidity, reduce over-reliance on USDC, and position Sui as a stablecoin-first ecosystem. Early estimates project suiUSDe yields between 5–15% APY, depending on market conditions.
Yield Opportunities for Users and Developers
For Sui users, the opportunities are massive. Imagine holding 100 SUI tokens. Before this partnership, you could earn around 3% by staking with wrapped USDC. Now, you can:
- Mint suiUSDe against your SUI collateral.
- Earn 8–10% yields via Ethena’s hedging strategies.
- Loop into lending platforms like Navi Protocol for leveraged farming.
- Park in USDi for safe, Treasury-backed yields (currently ~5%).
Developers also benefit from native composability. Instead of relying on unstable bridges, they can build lending, payments, and RWA protocols with direct access to Sui-native dollars. To sweeten adoption, the Sui Foundation has launched a $10 million grant program for projects that integrate suiUSDe or USDi (CoinDesk).
Risks, Challenges, and Roadmap Ahead
Of course, no DeFi innovation comes without risks. Synthetic pegs can falter during black swan events—in May 2025, USDe briefly dipped 0.5% during a flash crash. Additionally, regulatory scrutiny looms, particularly as synthetic stablecoins attract SEC attention.
Still, with Quantstamp audits and Ethena’s $15B track record, most analysts see the system as robust. The roadmap is equally ambitious:
- Q4 2025 – Stablecoin mints go live.
- Q1 2026 – Developer SDKs released.
- Phase 2 – Cross-chain bridges to Solana and Ethena hubs.
- Long-term – Full rollout of “SUI Bank”, envisioned as a liquidity hub for tokenized RWAs.
Why This Partnership Is a Game-Changer
In the world of DeFi, stablecoins account for nearly 70% of total value locked. By introducing suiUSDe and USDi, Sui is no longer just a fast chain for games and experimentation—it is evolving into a serious financial infrastructure. Analysts predict Sui’s ecosystem could leap from $30B to $50B TVL by mid-2026, fueled largely by stablecoin-driven growth.
For everyday users, this means better yields, faster payments, and cheaper fees. For developers, it’s an opportunity to build next-generation dApps with dollar rails that don’t break. And for investors, it’s proof that SUI Group, Ethena, and the Foundation are dead serious about scaling Sui into a DeFi powerhouse.
Final Thoughts
This collaboration between SUI Group, Ethena Labs, and the Sui Foundation is more than just a product launch—it’s a manifesto for sovereign stablecoin ecosystems. By eliminating reliance on USDC and introducing native yield-bearing stable assets, Sui has taken a bold leap into the future of decentralized finance.
The big question now is: Will users trust synthetic stability as much as fiat-backed models? Only time—and market conditions—will tell. But one thing’s clear: Sui has just moved from being the dark horse of Layer-1s to a contender in the big leagues.
For crypto natives chasing yield, dApp builders hunting composability, or institutions exploring RWAs, the arrival of suiUSDe and USDi could mark the dawn of a new financial era on Sui.
Sources:
- Business Wire – SUI Group Partners with Ethena
- CCN – Sui Blockchain to Launch Two Native Stablecoins
- CoinDesk – Sui Blockchain Hosts Native Stablecoins
- CryptoBriefing – SUI Group Partners with Ethena
- HOKA News – Sui Group & Ethena Crypto Revolution
- CryptoNinjas – Ethena Stablecoin-as-a-Service
