Sui Network has launched gasless stablecoin transfers on mainnet becoming the first L1 blockchain to permanently eliminate gas fees for peer-to-peer stablecoin payments at the protocol level.
Author: Sahil Thakur
21st May 2026 – Sui Network has launched gasless stablecoin transfers on mainnet. This makes it the first Layer 1 blockchain to permanently eliminate gas fees for peer-to-peer stablecoin payments at the protocol level.
High Signal Summary For A Quick Glance
Raoul Pal
@RaoulGMI
The cost of anything digital that is not scarce goes to zero in fees. Today Sui announced that moving money is now a zero cost operation via stablecoins. sui:native It's a big deal for zero cost....
12:19 AM·May 21, 2026
The Wolf Of All Streets
@scottmelker
SUI $SUI LAUNCHES GASLESS STABLECOIN TRANSFERS FOR $USDC, $FDUSD, AND $USDY, REMOVING THE NEED TO HOLD $SUI FOR FEES
12:00 AM·May 21, 2026
Kyle Chassé 🐸
@Kylechasse
Whales are loading SUI before the gasless upgrade. Open interest just crossed $700M. 3-month range broken. 25% candle. Smart money doesn't accumulate before nothing. https://t.co/8cZi8hkGSn
04:05 PM·May 20, 2026
Steady attention without excessive speculation.
The feature went live on May 20, 2026, and is rolling out as validators upgrade to protocol version 125. The protocol supports seven stablecoins at launch, including USDC from Circle and USDsui from Bridge/Stripe.
Unlike sponsored transactions or temporary subsidies, this is a permanent structural change. Users do not need to hold or manage any SUI tokens to send supported stablecoins.
The mechanism targets a narrow, low-cost transaction pattern. When a user sends a supported stablecoin through Sui’s balance::send_funds Move function, the protocol recognizes it as a qualifying transfer.
These transactions set gasPrice and gasBudget to zero. They involve no object writes beyond the simple balance transfer. Because the compute cost is minimal, the network processes them without deducting any fee.
The sender’s wallet does not need any SUI balance at all. Wallets and SDKs detect eligibility automatically and then submit qualifying transfers with gas set to zero.
Only pure P2P and batched stablecoin sends qualify. Swaps, DeFi interactions, NFT transfers, and any transaction with additional object writes still require standard gas payments.
The protocol’s allowlist currently includes seven stablecoins. Sui’s official announcement confirms the supported tokens: USDC, USDsui, suiUSDe, AUSD, FDUSD, USDB, and USDY.
Circle, Bridge/Stripe, Ethena, Agora, First Digital, Bucket Protocol, and Ondo issue these tokens respectively. Each has a defined on-chain package address in the protocol configuration, accessible through the get_gasless_allowed_token_types function.
No timeline exists for adding more tokens to the allowlist. Any expansion would likely require a protocol governance process.
Gasless / gas-abstracted stablecoin transfers across major L1 ecosystems
This feature differs fundamentally from gas abstraction methods on other chains. Ethereum’s ERC-4337 account abstraction relies on paymasters, which are third-party contracts that cover gas on behalf of users. Solana’s Octane uses off-chain sponsorship to achieve a similar result.
Sui baked its approach directly into the Move execution layer. The protocol itself recognizes qualifying transactions and processes them at zero cost. No third party pays the fee, and no subsidy fund exists. Mysten Labs built the feature as a core protocol upgrade.
Adeniyi Abiodun, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Mysten Labs, explained the reasoning in the official announcement.
“From the start, we’ve said it should not cost individuals fees to move their own money,” Abiodun said. “With gasless stablecoin transfers, we are one step closer in making Sui the global rail for payments.”
Institutional custody platform Fireblocks launched support for the feature alongside the mainnet rollout. As a result, enterprises using Fireblocks can now process stablecoin transfers on Sui without managing gas tokens.
Ran Goldi, SVP of Payments and Network at Fireblocks, highlighted the institutional angle. “Sui is making all the right moves, with gasless stablecoin transfers that removes a major point of friction for enterprises building onchain payment flows,” Goldi said.
The Fireblocks integration signals that this feature targets more than retail users. Payment processors, AI agents, and businesses also stand to benefit from removing gas complexity entirely.
Sui gasless stablecoin transfers build on the newer Address Balances system, introduced through SIP-58 and protocol version 125. This system enables the protocol to track and transfer balances more efficiently.
Two key GitHub pull requests implemented the feature. PR #26417 added the mainnet stablecoin allowlist at protocol version 123. Then PR #26504 enabled Address Balances and gasless transactions on mainnet at version 125.
Validators are currently upgrading to support the new protocol version. As more validators complete the upgrade, gasless transfers will reach full network coverage.
The launch arrives as Sui’s stablecoin ecosystem continues to grow. According to Decrypt, cumulative stablecoin volume on Sui has exceeded $1 trillion since August 2024.
Sui’s DeFi total value locked sits at approximately $589 million, according to DefiLlama data. Meanwhile, the stablecoin market cap on Sui is roughly $575 million.
SUI trades at approximately $1.07, up about 1.3% in the past 24 hours according to CoinGecko. No one has directly attributed any major price movement to the gasless launch yet, since the feature went live less than a day ago.
Src: DefiLlama
Several details remain unclear so soon after launch. The Sui team has not fully explained the long-term validator economics of processing zero-fee transactions. Efficiency gains in its object-centric architecture enable the feature, but exact accounting is still an open question.
No public dashboard tracks gasless transaction volume yet. Adoption metrics will likely emerge in the coming days as wallets and applications integrate the feature.
Community reaction on X has been overwhelmingly positive. Users called the update “huge for UX” and described it as a step toward mass adoption. One minor counterpoint noted that USDC remains subject to Circle’s standard blacklist controls.
Sui positions gasless stablecoin transfers as the foundation of a broader payments strategy. The network’s dedicated Payments hub outlines the vision for making Sui a global payments rail for businesses, consumers, and AI agents.
No timeline exists for adding new tokens to the gasless allowlist. For now, seven supported coins cover a significant portion of Sui’s stablecoin activity.
Users can already verify gasless transactions on-chain through Sui Explorer and Suiscan. Simply filter for transfers where gasPrice equals zero. As the validator rollout completes, the feature will reach full network coverage.
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