Tony Kim
May 29, 2026 04:14
Sui Network faced a 6-hour outage due to a bug in its latest update. SUI token dropped 6.6%, highlighting ongoing reliability concerns for the Layer-1 blockchain.
The Sui Network, a Layer-1 blockchain developed by Mysten Labs, experienced its second major outage of 2026 on Thursday, halting operations for nearly six hours. The disruption, caused by a bug in the gas charging logic of the network’s latest 1.72 update, underscores ongoing reliability challenges for the platform, which aims to position itself as a high-throughput blockchain suitable for institutional use.
According to Sui’s official status page, the outage lasted 5 hours and 55 minutes before mainnet activity resumed. Validators, however, remain listed as having “degraded performance.” The network team promised to release a full incident report in the coming days to address the root cause and proposed fixes.
Market Reaction: SUI Token Slides
During the outage, the SUI token dropped 6.6% to a low of $0.90, according to CoinGecko. By early Friday, the token had recovered slightly to $0.93, though it remains below its recent highs. As of May 29, 2026, SUI is trading at $0.9185, with a market capitalization of $4.13 billion.
This marks another setback for SUI following a volatile month. Just days earlier, on May 25, SUI saw a $14.85 million token unlock, its largest release to date, which added selling pressure. Earlier in May, however, the token had surged nearly 50% to $1.41 on news of gasless stablecoin transfers and private transaction features.
Recurring Reliability Concerns
This latest outage is part of a larger pattern of technical disruptions for Sui since its mainnet launch in May 2023. In January 2026, the network suffered a six-hour stall due to validator consensus issues, and in November 2024, a congestion-control bug caused a complete network halt for over two hours.
Despite these challenges, Sui continues to expand its ecosystem. The blockchain, currently the 13th largest by total value locked (TVL) at $542 million, hosts 137 protocols, according to DefiLlama. In a May 20 announcement, Sui revealed the rollout of gasless stablecoin transfers, reducing transaction fees for supported stablecoins to $0.00—a feature aimed at boosting adoption among institutional players.
Broader Context
Network outages are not unique to Sui. Other high-profile incidents this year include the April hack of Drift Protocol, which forced the decentralized exchange to suspend deposits, and an exploit targeting liquid restaking platform Kelp that led to a $293 million loss. However, Sui’s repeated outages raise questions about the network’s ability to deliver on its promise of scalability and reliability.
Looking ahead, traders and developers will be watching closely for the promised incident review and any updates to prevent future disruptions. With SUI’s price already under pressure, another major reliability issue could further erode market confidence.
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