Sui Foundation Refutes Claims of $400M SUI Token Sell-Off by Insiders Amid Price Surge

The Sui Foundation has denied allegations that insiders sold $400 million worth of SUI tokens during the cryptocurrency’s recent price surge.

The response comes after rumors surfaced accusing employees, investors, and other stakeholders of offloading significant portions of SUI during a recent rally in its value.

“No insiders, neither employees of the Foundation or Mysten Labs (including Mysten Labs founders), nor ML investors, have sold $400M worth of tokens during this period, either individually or combined,” the Sui Foundation said in a post on X.

“Insiders have not engaged in any preemptive selling or violated lockups and the circulating supply schedule.”

Following an allegation of “Sui insiders selling $400M in tokens throughout this run-up,” Sui Foundation would like to respond directly to this individual:

1. No insiders, neither employees of the Foundation or Mysten Labs (including Mysten Labs founders), nor ML investors,…

— Sui (@SuiNetwork) October 14, 2024

Infrastructure Partner Likely Sold Tokens

The foundation pointed to an infrastructure partner as the likely source of the token sales.

The partner’s tokens are subject to a vesting schedule, and the Sui Foundation reassured that all token lockups are enforced by qualified custodians.

The foundation also confirmed that the partner remains in compliance with these requirements.

SUI’s price surged by over 108% in the past 30 days, reaching an all-time high of $2.35 on October 13.

As of the latest data, SUI holds a market cap of approximately $6.18 billion, making it the 21st-largest cryptocurrency.

The accusations first emerged when a pseudonymous crypto analyst, Lightcrypto, claimed that insiders had offloaded $400 million worth of SUI tokens during the rally.

Lightcrypto alleged that wallets linked to the Sui Foundation had been distributing large amounts of tokens, with the analyst sharing data suggesting increased activity from wallets involved in SUI’s 2023 initial coin offering.

One thing that I've found more and more baffling in the last few weeks is the vertical ascent of SUI, with it quintupling off the lows (Ex 1). The market is starved for winners, and believes it has found one here, yet it all feels awfully chintzy for two reasons that I think feed… pic.twitter.com/VKISXpdxp1

— light (@lightcrypto) October 14, 2024

Adeniyi Abiodun, co-founder of Mysten Labs, attributed the surge in SUI’s value to the growing number of web3 projects migrating to the Sui blockchain, particularly in the gaming sector.

He explained that scalability issues on other networks had pushed developers to Sui, where they found better performance and lower costs, contributing to the platform’s increasing popularity.

USD Coin (USDC) to Launch on Sui Network

Last month, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire announced that the company is expanding its USDC stablecoin to the Sui network.

Sui, launched in 2023, is an L1 blockchain designed for Web3 applications, with a focus on simplifying decentralized application development through parallel transaction execution.

Built using the Move programming language, it offers advanced scalability and security for decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions.

Prior to this, Mysten Labs, the developer behind the Sui blockchain, announced plans to deliver its handheld gaming device, SuiPlay0X1, in the first half of 2025.

The company began accepting preorders for the device, priced at $599, on September 3.

The SuiPlay0X1 will support both traditional PC games and titles built on the Sui blockchain, marking a significant step forward in integrating blockchain technology into the gaming industry.