Sui testnet gas costs fall with Protocol Version 128 upgrade

Sui Foundation activated Protocol Version 128 on its testnet July 3, reducing transaction gas costs across the layer-1 blockchain developed by Mysten Labs.

"This upgrade is part of our ongoing effort to improve network efficiency and lower barriers for developers and users," a Sui Foundation spokesperson said.

The v1.74.1 update introduces protocol-level changes that lower the cost of executing transactions on Sui's testnet. The upgrade follows a series of network improvements aimed at making Sui more competitive against other high-throughput blockchains such as Solana and Aptos.

Lower gas costs could drive increased on-chain activity on Sui, attracting more developers and users to the network. The changes are expected to eventually roll out to mainnet after testing, potentially improving Sui's positioning in the layer-1 market where competitors are also pushing for faster, cheaper transactions.

Sui, a layer-1 blockchain built on the Move programming language, processes transactions in parallel, differentiating it from Ethereum's sequential execution model. The testnet fee reduction could signal further cuts on mainnet, where transaction costs have already been competitive relative to Ethereum. Sui's ecosystem includes DeFi protocols, gaming applications, and NFT marketplaces that benefit directly from lower transaction fees.

The upgrade comes as layer-1 networks compete aggressively on fee structures. Solana's Alpenglow upgrade, approved through a governance process in September 2025, targets finality of 100 to 150 milliseconds and is expected to ship alongside the Agave 4.1 validator client release later in 2026. Base's Beryl hard fork, which went live in June 2026, shortened withdrawal finality from seven days to five and integrated Reth V2 for improved execution efficiency. Avalanche's Etna upgrade replaced the old subnet model with sovereign Avalanche L1s, cutting the cost of launching a dedicated blockchain by more than 99 percent, according to Avalanche documentation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.