Key takeaways

SUI leads the L1 pack with a 44% monthly surge, record $2.2B TVL, and fee growth doubling Ethereum, front-running the Q3 altcoin narrative as it eyes a breakout above $4.

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Q3 kicked off with a bullish surge, with nearly $500 billion flowing into crypto in just two weeks. Strip out Bitcoin [BTC], and you’re still looking at $160 billion flowing into the broader market.

Yet one asset is clearly breaking from the pack. Sui [SUI]. Up 44% in July, now trading near $3.90, it’s outperforming every major L1. 

And this isn’t random.

SUI/BTC flips green as rotation kicks in

The SUI/BTC ratio just posted its strongest intraday gain in over two months. It was up 10.14%, recovering sharply from its late-Q2 slump.

In contrast, both ETH/BTC and SOL/BTC are stalling at resistance.

The signal is clear. Capital is rotating into SUI. It’s up 30%+ on the week, closely tracking Bitcoin’s own 10% breakout, and setting up the textbook altcoin rotation.

Add to that a 44.7% jump in SUI’s market cap since July, crushing Ethereum’s [ETH] 9.2% rise in the same timeframe, and the trend gets harder to ignore.

However, can the altcoin sustain its lead? Price is now approaching a key supply zone where selling pressure previously halted its upside. The question is, will this resistance stall its L1 dominance?

SUI registers multiple firsts in this cycle

SUI made a strong statement, jumping 13.52% intraday to trade at $3.96, right on the doorstep of its key $4 supply wall. 

Interestingly, every BTC rebound this cycle has been followed by sharp green candles on SUI’s daily chart, reinforcing the strength of the SUI/BTC setup.

But here’s the kicker: The altcoin might not be riding just on momentum anymore. Its Total Value Locked (TVL) just hit an all-time high of $2.219 billion, pointing to real ecosystem traction.

Why does this matter? A high TVL means more capital is being deployed into SUI’s DeFi protocols. In short, users aren’t just chasing price.

Instead, they’re locking value into the chain, signaling deeper ecosystem engagement.

L1 divergence: Fees, flows, and narrative

SUI isn’t just riding BTC’s coattails anymore.

Beyond the BTC-driven momentum, SUI is attracting real liquidity, fueling a 42% jump in monthly fees to $42k, double that of Ethereum in the same window.

If this divergence sticks, SUI is shaping up to dominate the Q3 narrative, with a clean $4 breakout possibly just the first confirmation of that trend.

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