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SUI is the native token of the Sui blockchain, serving multiple critical functions in the ecosystem. Understanding SUI’s mechanics and use cases is essential for participating in the Sui network.

SUI Token Functions

Gas Payment

Pay for transaction fees and storage costs

Staking

Stake to validators to participate in consensus

Governance

Participate in on-chain governance decisions

Medium of Exchange

Use as currency in the Sui ecosystem

Token Denomination

SUI uses MIST as its smallest unit:
All on-chain amounts are denominated in MIST. The human-readable SUI amount is MIST / 1,000,000,000.

SUI as a Coin

SUI is implemented as a native coin type:
The gas coin is a special Coin<SUI> object:

Total Supply

SUI has a fixed maximum supply of 10 billion tokens:

Distribution

The tokens are distributed across different allocations:
Allocated for community programs, grants, and ecosystem development.

Token Release Schedule

SUI tokens are released over time through:
1

Staking Rewards

New tokens minted as staking rewards each epoch
2

Vesting Schedules

Locked tokens released according to vesting timelines
3

Storage Fund Returns

SUI returned when objects are deleted

Using SUI in Transactions

Splitting Coins

Merging Coins

Getting Balance

Gas Coin Selection

Sui automatically selects gas coins for transactions:
You can also specify gas coins manually:

SUI in Smart Contracts

Receiving SUI Payments

Splitting SUI

Minting (Not Possible)

SUI cannot be minted arbitrarily. New SUI only enters circulation through:
  • Staking rewards (controlled by the protocol)
  • Vesting schedules (predetermined allocations)
  • Storage rebates (returning previously paid fees)

Economic Properties

Deflationary Mechanisms

  1. Storage Fees: Part of storage fees goes to non-refundable fund
  2. Burned Fees: Certain operations may burn SUI
  3. Lost Keys: Inaccessible wallets effectively reduce circulating supply

Inflationary Mechanisms

  1. Staking Rewards: New SUI issued to validators and stakers
  2. Subsidies: Temporary subsidies for network bootstrapping

Token Utility

As Gas

As Stake

As Payment

Best Practices

Gas Mechanism

Understand gas costs

Staking

Learn about staking SUI

Storage Fund

Storage economics