SUI Price Under Pressure as Traders Pull Back From Futures Contracts

• SUI price poised to escape month-long consolidation as buyers attempt a breakout from the inverted pennant pattern.
• SUI futures open interest declined from $955.5 million to $476 million, reflecting a sharp contraction in derivatives activity.
• Crypto fear and greed index at 15% suggests an extreme bearish sentiment among market participants.

On Wednesday, March 11th, the SUI price rose over 3% to exchange hands at $0.987. The bullish uptick aligns with broader market surge following the US CPI data for February 2026 showing annual inflation steady at 2.4%. The figure, in line with market expectations, raises odds for Fed rate cut in March. However, the total volume locked (TVL) in the SUI network remains sluggish since last months suggesting hesitation among market participants amid geopolitical tension. Can SUI price regain $1 this month?

SUI Ecosystem Growth Slows as TVL and Derivatives Activity Decline

SUI, the native cryptocurrency of SUI network, recorded a significant correction from its January high of $2 to current trading value of $0.98 registering 51% loss. Consequently, the asset market capitalization plunged to $3.86 billion. 

Along with price correction, the derivative market witnessed a significant drawdown in SUI futures trading. According to Coinglass, the open interest tied to SUI’s futures contract has plunged from $955.5 million to $476 million, registering a 50% loss.

The initial drop in this metric can be linked to sudden drop in coin price which triggered cascading liquidation. However, the continued fall suggests traders are still withdrawing from SUI’s derivative contracts ,indicating the loss of speculative force for price recovery.

In addition, TVL on SUI has become sluggish at $650 million since last month, which signals weak DeFi participation and slowing fresh liquidity into the ecosystem. Stagnant TVL often correlates with weaker network effects, lower fees/revenue generation, and reduced demand for the native token (SUI).

Overall, the above metrics suggest Sui is in a holding pattern rather than expansion mode – not collapsing, but not being adopted more explosively than top-tier L1s to reclaim the earlier hype. For the ecosystem to reverse this it would likely need renewed inflows to break out of the $1 resistance.

SUI Price Eyes $1 Breakout Despite Emerging Bearish Pattern

Since February 5th, 2026, the SUI price has traded in a range-bound trend within two converging trendlines of an inverted pennant pattern. The chart setup is characterized by a downsloping pole indicating prevailing downtrend followed by such consolidation within the triangle to regain its bearish momentum.

However, the SUI price is up 3% today and challenges the pattern’s resistance trendline for a bullish breakout. An upside break of a triangle is rare in bearish pattern and therefore it indicates a stronger conviction from buyers.

The coin price recently bounced above the 20-day exponential moving average suggesting the initial shift in market sentiment.

If the daily candle closes above the $0.98 resistance, the buyers would gain sufficient support to drive a 20% surge and hit the next key resistance at $1.16.

On the contrary, if the sellers continue to defend the triangle resistance, the coin price could decline from $0.98 floor and prolong ongoing consolidation.