At launch, Tusk and Narwhal were the default consensus algorithms used by Sui, although Bullshark replaced Tusk as the primary option in August 2022. The move was made to reduce latency issues, and to ensure that validators with lower processing speeds would still be able to contribute to the project. Tusk can still be used via updating the source, however. In short, Narwhal is used as a mempool to ensure that the data submitted to the consensus is available, and Bullshark (or Tusk) then sets the standard for arranging that data so the consensus engine can read it. This is part of the directed acyclic graph (DAG) mempool, which is yet another innovation Sui offers. Coupled with its innovative scaling solution, it will presumably allow the blockchain to reach transaction speeds of over 297,000 [transactions per second](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/transactions-per-second).

Sui is yet to release details about its native SUI token, which is to go live upon the [mainnet](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/mainnet)launch. It will be used for [gas](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/gas) fees and to pay for the storage fund. This fund compensates future validators for the costs of previously stored on-chain data. With this upfront-payment model, higher rewards are paid out to validators when the demand for storage is high.

Through features such as horizontal scaling, composability, sparse replay, and on-chain storage, Sui’s architecture solves pain points common to first generation blockchains. Horizontal Scaling On the Sui network, each group of transactions process in parallel, as opposed to the bottlenecking that occurs in some earlier blockchains due to any lack of distinction between the various objects, resources, accounts, and other components. Composability In Sui, unlike most other blockchains, one can directly pass an asset (such as an NFT), directly into a function argument. Sui’s object-centric approach also allows for more esoteric data structures, and the ability to store assets inside such data structures, or in an asset itself. Sparse Replay Naturally, a blockchain provides a ledger of every single transaction. For a Sui-specific example, game builders don’t need to track transactions interacting with unrelated dApps. Because querying on-chain data can be expensive, products on Sui will be able to follow the evolution of the objects in this game, without digging out the data from the Merkle tree. On-Chain Storage Because assets are directly stored as objects on the Sui blockchain, they are never subject to Merkle tree indexing. Storing assets directly on-chain is used in tandem with conventional means, such as IPFS, to scale the problem of on-chain storage, as it is much cheaper to directly update assets on-chain.

Mysten Labs, the original contributor to Sui, was founded by by former executives/lead architects of Meta’s Novi Research (the team responsible for Diem blockchain and Move programming language): Evan Cheng; Adeniyi Abiodun; Sam Blackshear; George Danezis; Kostas Chalkias.

Sui is a first-of-its-kind Layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform designed from the bottom up to make digital asset ownership fast, private, secure, and accessible to everyone. Its object-centric model, based on the Move programming language, enables parallel execution, sub-second finality, and rich on-chain assets. With horizontally scalable processing and storage, Sui supports a wide range of applications with unrivaled speed at low cost. Sui is a step-function advancement in blockchain and a platform on which creators and developers can build amazing, user-friendly experiences.