1. Incomplete DeFi Infrastructure

Sui's decentralized finance stack lacks several critical components:

Lending Protocol Limitations Current offerings like Navi and Scallop remain basic compared to Ethereum's Aave, missing features like isolated markets and advanced risk parameters.

Stablecoin Dependence The ecosystem relies entirely on bridged stablecoins rather than native issuances, creating unnecessary counterparty risk and capital inefficiencies.

Derivatives Absence No significant platforms exist for trading perpetual contracts or options, limiting sophisticated trading strategies.

2. Cross-Chain Integration Challenges

Interoperability remains a key growth constraint:

Bridge Vulnerabilities Current solutions require trust in third-party validators rather than offering IBC-style native verification.

Liquidity Fragmentation Cross-chain swap volumes remain minimal, with Sui pools representing less than 5% of Ethereum-Solana bridge activity.

Missing Rollup Connectivity The lack of dedicated Ethereum L2 bridges prevents seamless migration of Ethereum-native assets and users.

3. Developer Experience Shortcomings

Move language adoption faces tooling barriers:

Debugging Limitations Basic CLI tools lack the testing and simulation capabilities found in Ethereum's Hardhat suite.

No-Code Barriers The absence of visual builders excludes less technical teams from ecosystem participation.

SDK Fragmentation Multiple competing standards exist for basic functions like wallet connections, increasing integration complexity.

4. Institutional Adoption Barriers

Enterprise participation faces structural hurdles:

Custody Solutions Gap No institutional-grade custody options exist comparable to Fireblocks or Anchorage.

Compliance Tooling Missing KYC/AML frameworks prevent regulated financial product development.

Security Verification Limited availability of enterprise-grade smart contract audits slows institutional deployment.

5. Consumer Experience Deficits

Mainstream adoption faces UX challenges:

Wallet Limitations No mobile-first solution matches Phantom's feature set or user base.

Onboarding Friction Minimal support for social logins or Web2 authentication creates adoption barriers.

dApp Integration Few applications offer wallet-embedded experiences common on Ethereum.