Will this Ethereum challenger be the next crypto to explode?

Key Points

• Sui is an emerging challenger to Ethereum that recently reached a new all-time high in January.

• New spot ETFs could arrive for Sui in October.

• The creation of new Sui treasury companies could put upward pressure on the price.

On paper, Sui (CRYPTO: SUI) seems to be an unattractive investment. The cryptocurrency has dropped nearly 20% since the beginning of the year and is currently trading 35% below its all-time high of $5.35 reached in January. To say that 2025 has been a tough year for Sui would be an understatement.

However, over the last 90 days, Sui has kept pace with Gate, the market's benchmark cryptocurrency. So all is not lost. In fact, two new catalysts could drive Sui up in the coming months, making it a potentially explosive investment opportunity right now.

What is Sui?

Many novice cryptocurrency investors may not be familiar with Sui. It is a layer 1 blockchain network for smart contracts, similar to Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).

The big difference is that Sui is incredibly fast in terms of transaction processing speed. According to a report from 21Shares last year, Sui can process up to 297,000 transactions per second. Ethereum, on the other hand, struggles to process 30 transactions per second.

Moreover, Sui boasts an impressive pedigree. The founders of the team have extensive experience in Silicon Valley, particularly in cryptocurrency projects at Meta Platforms. And the company behind the Sui cryptocurrency, Mysten Labs, has raised over $300 million in venture capital to develop the Sui blockchain ecosystem.

Sui was actually launched with great fanfare in May 2023. But it was at the very end of the previous crypto winter, so it never gained as much ground as some initially hoped.

All eyes on the new spot crypto ETFs

The first catalyst for Sui concerns the imminent launch of new exchange-traded funds (ETF) Sui spot. These ETFs, just like the Bitcoin spot ETFs in 2024, could lead to an immediate market rally for Sui. If approved, these ETFs would provide large institutional investors with a new way to gain exposure to Sui, without having to dip their toes directly into the cryptocurrency market.

The general consensus is that the Securities and Exchange Commission will approve a series of new spot crypto ETFs by mid-October. The two cryptocurrencies at the top of the list for approval are XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL). This makes sense, given that they rank as the third and sixth largest cryptocurrencies in the world, in terms of market capitalization.

But Sui, ranked as the 14th largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $12.3 billion, is not to be left behind either. In fact, many crypto ETF observers expect several altcoins to receive spot ETFs alongside XRP and Solana. Sui is of course one of the names often mentioned. Two investment firms have already submitted applications to the SEC for spot Sui ETFs.

The rise of treasury companies SUI?

The next major catalyst is the sudden emergence of SUI treasury companies. These are modeled after existing Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP treasury companies. The business model of these publicly traded companies is simple: raise funds from external investors, put this money to work with spectacular purchases of a specific cryptocurrency, and watch the stock price rise.

The company I am watching is Sui Group Holdings (NASDAQ: SUIG), which currently ranks as the largest Sui treasury company in the world, with over 350 million dollars in crypto on its balance sheet. The company, formerly known as Mill City Ventures, raised a staggering amount of capital - 450 million dollars - at the end of summer just to accumulate Sui.

Given the success of Bitcoin and Ethereum treasury companies, it would not be surprising if new Sui treasury companies were to follow in their footsteps. This could in turn create a virtuous circle: companies buy Sui, the price of Sui increases, new companies emerge to buy Sui, the price of Sui increases even more…

What could go wrong with Sui?

Of course, it is certainly not guaranteed that everything will go well for Sui for the rest of 2025. In the worst-case scenario, the SEC may not approve the spot Sui ETF applications, deeming them too risky and speculative. Furthermore, the trend of crypto treasury companies could turn out to be a largely inflated crypto bubble.

But Sui is undoubtedly one of the most popular challengers to Ethereum. It has been dubbed a potential killer of Solana. And Solana, in turn, has often been referred to as a potential killer of Ethereum. This gives you an idea of the scale of Sui's potential. Solana is currently 10 times larger than Sui, and Ethereum is 45 times larger than Sui, in terms of market capitalization.

We have already seen several cryptos experience strong growth this year, notably XRP. Could Sui be the next crypto to be released? If you are looking to boost the performance of your crypto portfolio in 2025, Sui might deserve a closer look.