Sui suffers extended mainnet stall as network activity remains disrupted

Sui Network experienced an extended mainnet stall on 14 January, temporarily disrupting transactions and access to ecosystem applications.

In a post shared on X, the Sui team confirmed that the network was “currently experiencing a network stall,” adding that the core development team was actively working on a fix. 

The update warned users that dApps such as Slush and SuiScan could be unavailable and that transactions might be delayed or unable to process until normal operations resume.

At the time of writing, the network had not yet fully recovered.

Sui transactions halt as validators fail to finalize blocks

On-chain data from Sui explorers revealed a series of stalled or system-level transactions, characterized by repeated entries and failed attempts to finalize blocks. The downtime has been for almost 3 hours at the time of this writing.

While some programmable transactions continued to appear, overall throughput dropped sharply, indicating that validators were unable to consistently agree on new blocks.

The incident marks one of the more visible disruptions on Sui in recent months. It comes amid renewed attention on the network’s performance during periods of rising activity.

Sui TVL climbs back above $1bn before outage

Despite the stall, recent data from DeFiLlama shows that Sui’s total value locked [TVL] had already staged a notable recovery before the disruption.

As of 14 January, Sui’s TVL stood at approximately $1.05 billion, its highest level in several weeks. This represents a rebound from late-December levels, when TVL hovered around the $900 million mark. 

The rise was accompanied by increased decentralized exchange [DEX] activity, with daily DEX volume reaching roughly $371 million on the same day.

The TVL recovery suggests that capital had been flowing back into Sui-based DeFi protocols, even as broader market conditions remained volatile.

SUI price rebounds toward $2 amid higher volume

SUI’s price action also reflected renewed momentum before the network stall.

On the 12-hour chart, SUI was trading at around $1.90, up roughly 4.7% on the day, after rebounding from December lows near $1.40.

Trading volume increased alongside the move, with several recent sessions exhibiting elevated activity compared to late December.

However, the rally remains technically fragile. SUI is still trading well below its November highs above $2.50, and the broader trend since October continues to show lower highs despite the recent bounce.

The ongoing network disruption adds layer of uncertainty for short-term price action, particularly if the stall persists.

Network reliability back in focus

The Sui team has not yet provided a timeline for full restoration, stating only that updates would be shared as they become available. 

Until then, users and developers remain unable to rely on normal transaction processing.

Final Thoughts

• Sui’s extended mainnet stall comes at a moment when the network had begun showing signs of renewed momentum, with TVL rebounding above $1 billion and decentralized trading activity picking up.
• While the outage has not yet triggered a sharp unwind in on-chain capital or price, the incident puts renewed focus on network reliability as usage and liquidity start to return.