The Sui Foundation, the team behind the Sui network and its native SUI token, has firmly denied allegations that it unlocked SUI staking rewards and sold them on cryptocurrency exchange Binance. In a series of tweets on June 27, the foundation addressed the claim and stated that no staking rewards or any other locked or non-circulating tokens had been sold on Binance or elsewhere. They emphasized that all insider token allocations were in compliance with the lock-up periods and transfer restrictions.
Background on Sui and Staking Mechanism
Sui is a decentralized proof-of-stake blockchain that offers users the opportunity to stake their Sui tokens and participate in the proof-of-stake mechanism. In return for staking, users receive more SUI tokens. Notably, there is no minimum staking period required.
Twitter Thread Allegations and Foundation’s Response
The Sui Foundation’s denial came in response to allegations made by a pseudonymous crypto commentator known as @DeFiSquared. In a Twitter thread on June 27, they accused the foundation of “dumping rewards from *locked* and *non-circulating* staked SUI” on Binance. While the foundation clarified that the specific transactions mentioned were subject to a contractual lock-up, @DeFiSquared argued that the SUI tokens could be unlocked without any restrictions.
According to @DeFiSquared, the Sui Foundation’s wallet address, “0x341f,” transferred 3.125 million SUI tokens, out of the total 27 million in staking rewards, to three different addresses. These tokens were then allegedly transferred to Binance. @DeFiSquared claimed that this process had occurred multiple times, with most of the tokens eventually ending up on Binance. They speculated that this could be an attempt to obscure the selling or a distribution strategy among team members.
Accusations of Sell Pressure and Inflation
@DeFiSquared expressed their curiosity about SUI’s “seemingly endless sell pressure” in May. They criticized the foundation for not providing an emissions chart separate from Binance’s launchpad, which they deemed illegitimate. Additionally, @DeFiSquared accused the foundation of inflating the supply of the SUI token by approximately 20% per month for non-foundation token holders. They even compared this inflation rate to that of the hyperinflating Venezuelan Bolivar in 2022.
Market Cap and Token Details
As of now, the SUI token has a market cap of $427.7 million, with a circulating supply of around 604 million tokens, according to CoinMarketCap. At the time of publication, the SUI token was trading at $0.70, experiencing a 2.4% decline in the past 24 hours.
The Sui Foundation has announced its intention to release a detailed projection of the token’s release schedule soon. Token Unlocks, a tokenomics dashboard, indicates that the next unlock of 61 million tokens ($43 million) is scheduled for June 3.