Space Recap: Sui and Walrus 2025 Development Roadmap

Sui achieved strong results in 2024, and just entering 2025, its TVL has already surpassed $2 billion, reaching a new historic milestone. As a decentralized storage protocol within the Sui ecosystem, Walrus is also gradually emerging as a focal point of attention.

At 8 PM on February 12, Sui Chinese, Walrus Chinese, and crypto KOL Chain Research jointly hosted this X Space, inviting Cynthia, Head of Ecosystem Growth for Sui Asia-Pacific, Yaodong Li, Southeast Asia Lead at Mysten Labs, and two seasoned Sui users, Eva "Shu Jie" and Hedda, to discuss Sui and Walrus's development plans for 2025.

🌟 X Space: https://x.com/SuiNetworkCN/status/1889147802405744779

Key Takeaways

1️⃣ In 2024, the Sui ecosystem achieved breakthrough growth with record-high TVL, aided by partnerships like Ant Digital that brought billions of dollars into the ecosystem.

2️⃣ The introduction of stablecoins such as USDC and FDUSD injected greater liquidity into the Sui ecosystem.

3️⃣ Integration with Lombard Finance enabled cross-chain BTC functionality, allowing users seamless access to BTCfi and enhancing the ecosystem’s cross-chain capabilities and financial use cases.

4️⃣ Integration with Phantom Wallet enables Solana and Phantom users to seamlessly participate in the Sui ecosystem, significantly expanding its user base.

5️⃣ Walrus is a decentralized storage protocol developed by Mysten Labs, offering high-performance, multimedia-capable storage to empower the Sui ecosystem. Walrus is即将 launching on mainnet, with off-chain address lookup already available. Details regarding on-chain eligibility will be announced soon.

6️⃣ In 2025, Sui will continue advancing GameFi, with the Sui Play0X1 handheld device expected to be delivered in the first half of the year. Additionally, Sui will explore AI and emerging sectors to support diversified ecosystem growth.

Highlights Recap

Chain Research: Welcome to today’s crypto X Space event. After the viral article about Walrus, the Sui team suggested we host a Space, which led to this event. It's an honor to host and discuss the future of Sui and Walrus together with everyone.

On this Lantern Festival, we’ll explore Sui’s 2025 development roadmap and the upcoming mainnet launch of Walrus—the current top project on Sui. Two days ago, the airdrop checker went live, so friends who previously engaged with Walrus on social media can now bind their addresses.

Today, we are honored to welcome several distinguished guests:

• Cynthia, Head of Ecosystem Growth for Sui Asia-Pacific

• Yaodong Li, Southeast Asia Lead at Mysten Labs

• Two seasoned Sui users: Eva "Shu Jie" and Hedda

Q1

Chain Research: When did you first encounter Sui? Which ecosystem projects have you participated in?

KOL: We've been deeply involved since the early stages of the Sui ecosystem—not only with the Sui mainnet itself but also with various Sui-based projects including Cetus, Navi, Suilend, Scallop, and Bluefin—earning substantial returns. The Sui ecosystem delivers. User experience on Sui is superior compared to other blockchains, the community vibe is strong, and most airdrops are straightforward—participation usually guarantees rewards. Previous airdrops like DEEP brought us pleasant surprises. This year, our main focus is Walrus, which is a major priority for the team.

Q2

Chain Research: Cynthia, could you share an overview of Sui’s development in 2024 and plans for 2025?

Cynthia: 2024 was a breakthrough year for Sui. Sui’s TVL hit new highs, attracting significant attention from crypto investors. Collaborations with partners like Ant Digital drove billions of dollars in assets directly into Sui. Additionally, stablecoins like USDC and FDUSD boosted liquidity within the ecosystem. Recently, Sui completed cross-chain BTC integration with Lombard Finance, enabling users to fully explore BTCfi on Sui.

For regular users, features like zkLogin allow Web2-style login to Sui wallets, simplifying onboarding and enabling fast entry into Web3. For developers, Sui offers frictionless onboarding guides, aiming to provide a user-friendly platform.

In 2025, Sui will continue expanding its ecosystem, attracting more developers and users to drive innovation. For example, the pre-ordered handheld gaming device SuiPlay0X1 is expected to see further positive updates in the first half of this year, accelerating GameFi development. Beyond that, we’ll also monitor projects in AI and other new sectors, as well as Walrus, which is a key focus this year.

Q3

Chain Research: How familiar are you with Walrus? What are your thoughts on it?

KOL: I’ve participated in Walrus testnet interactions from day one—I personally created over ten accounts. I’ve tried all the rumored airdrop interaction methods circulating online recently and encouraged my peers to join too. Seeing Adeniyi frequently promoting alpha opportunities there excites me; I’m hopeful for big rewards to reignite market and ecosystem momentum.

Q4

Chain Research: What is Walrus? Why is it Sui’s biggest bet in 2025? What does Walrus do and what value does it bring?

Yaodong: Simply put, Walrus is a decentralized storage protocol developed by Mysten Labs, supporting application publishing, reading, and programmable processing of large data files and rich multimedia content such as video, images, and audio. It also offers high performance, high availability, programmability, security, and cost-effective decentralized storage fees.

Q5

Chain Research: The integration between Sui and Phantom has sparked widespread discussion. How do you view this collaboration?

Cynthia: Partnering with Phantom, one of the world’s most popular crypto wallets, further solidifies Sui’s position as a leading public blockchain. This collaboration allows millions of Solana and Phantom users to directly access the Sui ecosystem. They can not only easily manage SUI but also seamlessly swap thousands of other tokens and conveniently access decentralized applications (like Suilend, Navi, Aftermath, and Bluefin), delivering a richer Web3 experience.

We’ll soon announce more partnerships with additional wallets (shortly followed by the announcement of Sui’s collaboration with OKX Wallet)—stay tuned.

Q6

Chain Research: People say Sui could be the next Solana. What’s your take? How do you interpret Cynthia’s mention of the Sui x Phantom powerhouse alliance?

KOL: From my experience, I believe Sui holds great potential. There's a common saying online: Solana was the Ethereum killer, and now Sui is the Solana killer. As Sui continues growing in DeFi, GameFi, and other areas, time will tell. Phantom has a massive user base and hasn’t launched an airdrop yet—it consistently rides the latest trends: Bitcoin inscriptions, SOL memes, Base chain, and now Sui. I trust Phantom’s judgment and look forward to this powerful collaboration.

Q7

Chain Research: Walrus recently announced a new Executive Director for the Walrus Foundation. Why would a protocol hire a senior executive?

Yaodong: Rebecca joins as the new Executive Director of the Walrus Foundation and will lead Walrus in better managing ecosystem development, fulfilling the original vision of achieving mass adoption of decentralized storage.

Chain Research: Both Walrus and Sui were developed by Mysten Labs and are closely linked. Some view Walrus as Sui’s “favorite child,” but I prefer to see them as “siblings.” Regardless of interpretation, user experience remains paramount.

Q8

Community Question 1: Sui, as a high-performance blockchain, brings advantages to the Walrus protocol. But could this lead to over-dependence on the Sui ecosystem? Does Mysten Labs’ strategy indicate full confidence in Sui’s stability? Is Walrus merely dependent on Sui, or does it actively nourish the entire Sui ecosystem?

Cynthia & Yaodong: Many see Walrus as Sui’s “favorite child,” but in reality, Walrus and Sui develop in parallel. As the underlying tech company, Mysten Labs has successively launched Sui, Deepbook, Walrus, and other products. These protocols complement each other: Sui as the public blockchain, Deepbook as the native orderbook protocol, and Walrus as the storage protocol—all working together to comprehensively support and continuously empower the Sui ecosystem.

Q9

Community Question 2: Walrus is compatible with Sui and plans to achieve cross-chain compatibility. What are the outlook and plans for this aspect?

Yaodong: This is a more technical question. Currently, Sui is advancing cross-chain compatibility, and Walrus will have new development plans as well. Stay tuned for our official announcements.

Q10

Live Question 1: What is Sui’s 2025 strategy for the gaming sector?

Cynthia: Sui has already made deep investments in gaming throughout 2024 and established partnerships with major game companies and IPs. For users, the first batch of pre-ordered SuiPlay0X1 devices will officially be delivered this year, alongside multiple games launching progressively for you to play and engage with. Stay tuned!

Q11

Live Question 2: Does Sui plan to launch a platform similar to Solana’s pump.fun?

Cynthia: Sui is still in its early stages. Compared to Solana, we need time to build foundational infrastructure and cultivate a richer environment to attract more developers to deploy. That said, Sui will closely follow industry trends, monitor hot topics, and adapt accordingly.

Chain Research: Thank you sincerely to all our guests for the insightful discussions and to our community members for active participation. Through today’s event, we’ve gained deeper insights into Sui’s 2025 development roadmap and the Walrus project. As a vital component of the Sui ecosystem, Walrus’s future potential is highly promising.