Two distinct narratives are emerging in the altcoin market this week, as SEI shows resilience through on-chain growth despite price decline, while SUI faces increasing scrutiny over its controversial tokenomics.
SEI’s price has dropped 56% in 2026, currently trading around $0.0569, lagging behind Bitcoin. However, on-chain metrics paint a much more optimistic picture. Daily active addresses grew 78% in Q1 to 311K, transactions averaged 639K with a peak near 917K, and returning user count increased 137%. Total value locked reached $363 million (+73.7%), and stablecoin supply hit a new high of $178 million, signaling real usage rather than speculation.
Several catalysts are lining up for Q2. On April 14, Coinbase completed full EVM integration, opening the door for more developers. On April 27, the Giga upgrade was confirmed for Q2, targeting over 10,000 TPS with “Autobahn” consensus and asynchronous execution aiming for 200,000 TPS and sub-400ms finality. This upgrade also includes stronger MEV protection to improve fairness in DeFi. Additionally, $30 million has been committed toward real-world asset initiatives tied to the ecosystem.
From a technical perspective, SEI has formed a base around $0.048–$0.050, then broke through resistance near $0.055. The price is now consolidating around $0.056–$0.057 with RSI at 39, suggesting room for upside if buyers return. However, monthly token unlocks of 112–132 million SEI could create sell pressure.
Meanwhile, SUI faces a different challenge. While its technology is strong — object-centric design enabling 297,000 TPS, Move programming language, zkLogin for easy onboarding — its tokenomics have come under heavy criticism. Justin Bons, Founder and CIO of Cyber Capital, revealed that while SUI claims a capped supply of 10B tokens, 52% remains labeled as “unallocated” until 2030. Over 7B SUI is currently staked, with Bons claiming over 84% controlled by founders or related entities.
Bons also pointed to the absence of strict lock-in mechanisms, custody via BitGo, Anchorage, and Coinbase Prime that obscures control, and token distribution heavily favoring insiders — 160M to Mysten Labs, 600M to early contributors, and close to 1.5B to venture capital participants, with no public sale.
Despite these concerns, SUI’s growth metrics remain impressive. TVL increased 220% between 2024 and 2025, transaction activity hit 58 million in a single day in October 2024, and developer activity grew 219% in early 2024. Bons suggests burning the unallocated supply or placing it under decentralized governance as potential fixes.
