Layer 1 blockchain Sui’s native token SUI jumped more than 14% in the last 24 hours, significantly outperforming bitcoin and ether as traders seized on speculation that the Layer 1 blockchain could one day support privacy-preserving transactions.
The move stood out in an otherwise muted market. Bitcoin rose about 1% over the same period, while ether gained about 1.2%, leaving SUI as the day’s strongest large-cap performer. This divergence points to a token-specific catalyst rather than a broad risk-on movement.
Research-led rally
Sui’s rally is likely rooted in research, not a product launch. A recent paper, co-authored by Mysten Labs, which is the core creator and developer of the Sui blockchain, outlined how modern blockchains can incorporate privacy features without fully adopting the design of older privacy coins.
Structured as a systematization of knowledge (an academic survey of existing work), the article set out a formal framework for comparing privacy models across blockchains, categorizing privacy into different levels ranging from basic confidentiality, where transaction amounts are hidden, to k-anonymity and full anonymity, which progressively hide the identity of a single sender instead of receiving a single protocol.
It places Sui firmly in the account-based model alongside Ethereum and Solana, and examines how such systems could implement confidential balances, limited anonymity sets, or sender-receiver decoupling using cryptographic primitives such as homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs.
Crucially, the paper emphasizes trade-offs. Strong privacy guarantees tend to increase computational overhead, complicate support for some clients designed to be run in resource-scarce environments, and raise regulatory concerns.
Rotation towards digital cash
Through 2025, investors were increasingly looking for ‘cyclical value’. During the second half of 2025, privacy coins such as Zcash and Monero significantly outperformed broader crypto markets, even as bitcoin and ether struggled under macro pressure and dollar strength.
Analysts have framed the move as a rotation toward digital cash, assets designed for use rather than return, where zero-knowledge proofs enable privacy without sacrificing settlement speed or selective compliance. The rally has been interpreted less as speculative profiteering and more as a signal that demand for financial privacy is resurgent as a core market theme.
While the paper doesn’t present a timeline for launching a blockchain privacy token or present new technology, investors hope it’s a signal of things to come.
