Sui’s 40.6M TPS Record Meets Reality as Live Throughput Sits Near 100

Sui's offchain tunnels processed 40,614,180 transactions per second in a live test at Sui Basecamp in Singapore on 7 October, and CertiK's final report put the peak at 40,682,328 TPS. Twelve days later, Chainspect's live dashboard had Sui doing 104.4 transactions per second, eighth on a list of blockchains ranked by real-time throughput.

The gap highlights an important distinction in blockchain performance: a network’s demonstrated capacity is not the same as the number of transactions it handles during everyday use.

A blockchain throughput snapshot shared on October 19 placed Internet Computer (ICP) at 2,240 TPS, ahead of Solana at 1,663 TPS. BNB Chain recorded 205 TPS, TRON reached 177 TPS, and Sui processed about 97 TPS.

These figures are snapshots rather than permanent rankings. Live throughput changes with network activity, and different trackers may use different methods to count transactions.

CertiK's Report Sets the Boundary Itself

CertiK's Sui Tunnel Performance Verification Report, dated 14 October, states that tunnel TPS "means qualifying tunnel (off-chain) transactions per second", and that "it is not a measurement of Sui on-chain transaction capacity." Measuring offchain transitions per second, the report adds, "the primary metric does not reflect Sui instant on-chain throughput."

Tunnels are Sui's take on payment channels, the company says: programmable offchain state that settles to Sui mainnet when closed, similar to Lightning Network, with every closed tunnel mutually cosigned and verifiable onchain. A tunnel needs two transactions, one to open and one to close, and activity between those steps stays inside the channel. During the test, more than 10,000 tunnels opened on Sui mainnet within seconds of each other.

The counting follows that design. CertiK recorded 15,241,348,297 tunnel transactions across 7,680 tunnels, all reported as opened and settled on chain, after excluding 81 app tunnels from its time-bucketed metrics. Its note on units: "A tunnel's final on-chain commitment can represent many off-chain transitions. Its settlement transaction and its off-chain transitions are different counting units."

The peak landed inside a single second, 08:46:17 to 08:46:18 UTC on 7 October, at 40,682,328 TPS. The strongest 60-second average, between 08:46:07 and 08:47:07, was 40,339,143.65 TPS. The lowest 60-second average in the campaign, which CertiK describes as a separate diagnostic across the staggered schedule, was 1,210,056.52 TPS.

Real-Time Rankings Put Fogo, Solana and ICP on Top

Chainspect's snapshot at 19:52 UTC on 19 October, taken over a 1-hour window, ranks Fogo first at 3,468 tx/s, Solana second at 2,295 tx/s and ICP third at 2,240 tx/s. Sui is eighth at 104.4 tx/s, just above Base in ninth at 102.9 tx/s. Ethereum sits 13th at 21.94 tx/s, with 12 minute 48 second finality.

Sui's entry also lists a maximum of 1,204 tx/s over 100 blocks, a theoretical 120,000 tx/s and 5.08 billion transactions since its 3 May 2023 launch.

Two caveats on that table. The Solana and ICP live figures rest on Chainspect's dashboard alone, with no second data source reachable for either. And Chainspect's own description says it tracks live network data "rather than theoretical benchmarks or isolated stress tests", which is a different question from the one a tunnel test answers.

A Demo and a Dashboard Answer Different Questions

Sui's 40.6 million was more than six times the 6,086,766 TPS it recorded on 4 July, with both runs measured inside tunnels. Its advertised ceiling of 120,000 tx/s, and even its 1,204 tx/s rolling maximum, sit far above what the network does in an ordinary hour.

Adeniyi Abiodun, Mysten Labs chief product officer and co-founder, who led the demonstration, put the case for the number: "No market in the world needs 6 million transactions per second, let alone 40 million: people just don't move that fast. Agents do."

That is the pitch: capacity for machine-scale activity, not human payments. The live ranking measures the other thing, what the chain settles when people and apps use it normally. CertiK's own wording keeps the two apart, so a headline in the tens of millions does not lift the on-chain number, and 104.4 tx/s does not undercut the tunnel result.

What would close the gap is a run that lands in both counts: tunnels settling to mainnet in volume, showing up in the on-chain figures Chainspect tracks. Until then, the fast-chain pitch and the live reading are measuring two different layers.

What to Watch Next

Sui’s next challenge is not simply to demonstrate high throughput again. It is to show how its architecture supports applications that people continue to use.

Investors and developers can track live mainnet throughput alongside transaction counts, active addresses, stablecoin supply, DeFi activity, and network fees. These indicators provide a more complete picture than a single speed benchmark.

The same approach applies to ICP, Solana, BNB Chain, and TRON. Their current TPS readings provide a snapshot of activity, not a definitive ranking of overall blockchain quality.

Sui’s tunnel record remains an impressive performance result. But the comparison with live network activity shows why blockchain speed claims need context: capacity demonstrates what a system can handle, while usage shows what it is handling now.