Shared objects → accessible by many users; updates require global consensus to ensure consistency and prevent conflicts.

When you process transactions in Sui, the type of object—owned or shared—directly affects how fast and efficiently things run. Owned objects belong to a single address and can only be changed by the owner, which means transactions involving them don’t need to go through consensus and are confirmed quickly with low gas fees. This makes them ideal for personal assets like tokens or NFTs. Shared objects, on the other hand, are accessible by multiple users and require consensus to manage reads and writes, which adds some delay and cost. You use shared objects when you need coordination between different parties, like in marketplaces or DAOs. Choosing between these types depends on whether you need speed and privacy or collaboration and flexibility.

his distinction lets Sui scale (via parallel owned-object execution) while still supporting global, collaborative state through shared objects.

Owned objects allow fast, parallel transaction processing since they have a single owner and no conflicts.

Shared objects require consensus and serialized processing because multiple parties access them, ensuring security and consistency.

Together, this design lets Sui scale efficiently without sacrificing correctness.