It's official: the Sui Network mainnet will launch one week from today on Wednesday, May 3rd. There's been a lot of buzz leading up to this launch over the past few weeks, including launching the final testnet a handful of weeks ago, a flurry of activity from apps building on the Sui network, and a fair amount of disgruntlement over Sui's decision to not offer the somewhat-traditional airdrop that testnet users have come to expect from projects such as these. I've written about a few of these topics in various articles over the last few weeks, but here's another handful of updates and observations as we enter these last seven days before mainnet launch...

(Image source: Sui Network Discord announcement channel.)

Sui Network's Community Access Program Sale

As mentioned in my previous article, Sui's CAP turned out to not be the airdrop users were hoping for, but rather a 'recognition sale' for qualifying members of the official Sui Discord server. I covered the original announced requirements in my last post, including country restrictions (US citizens and residents are excluded, for instance), date of joining the Discord server (only users who have joined before February 1st of this year qualified), etc. This final confirmation that there would be no airdrop (in spite of Sui's constant social media posts that no airdrop was planned) along with somewhat stringent qualification factors for the Community Access Program sale left a lot of longtime testnet users feeling left out in the cold.

But to make matters worse, it appears that even meeting the CAP requirements listed AND completing KYC verification on one of the three exchanges that are hosting the recognition sale may still not have been enough to guarantee a spot to purchase $SUI. Over the past week, it turned out that there is a lottery system(s?) for the three exchanges, so not everyone who submitted their verification form automatically secured a spot. There still seems to be some confusion in the official Sui Discord about whether new spots will open up after this round of verification is done and current approved users don't finish KYC, or are otherwise disqualified, etc. Will leftover spots be reallocated? Or will the active first round users simply get the opportunity to purchase more $SUI? Hopefully more clarification is incoming.

Is Sui Network Stable Enough to Launch the Mainnet?

Another question remaining is if this final week of testnet is enough time for both the Sui Network itself - and for apps and projects building on the network - to work out the remaining kinks before the mainnet launch? The last few weeks have seen a lot of instability from both the network and with specific platforms scurrying to get ready. Over the last few days, at least, it seems that there have been far less issues with gas fee estimations and testnet faucet claims (both in-wallet and from Discord), and many of the projects I'm interacting personally with do seem to be getting a lot accomplished. Others, however, still feel like they have a long way to go.

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. It's your responsibility to do extensive research and consult a professional before investing.

No Airdrop, No CAP - Is Participating in Sui Network Still Worth It?

I brought this up last week, and the answer - in my opinion - is still yes. In and of itself, this is probably the most fun I've had participating in a testnet phase. Even if it turns out I don't receive any tangible rewards, it was still a worthwhile experience for me to give feedback to up-and-coming developers on their projects.

I've also mentioned that many of the apps and projects building on Sui are making plans for airdrops of their own tokens once the Sui Network mainnet is launched, so if you've been interacting with these builders you may qualify for some other tokens besides $SUI starting next week.

Running Out of Testnet $SUI?

As I mentioned above, for awhile there it was becoming harder and harder to score enough testnet $SUI to participate in all of the projects building on the network. The official faucet sources have become much more stable and accessible over the last few days, and I've found a few other sources that may help you out in this final run-up to the mainnet:

• Official Faucets: Your best bet to claim test $SUI on the regular will be either directly from your wallet (I can claim 1 SUI from the official Sui Wallet at least once a day, depending on traffic) and from the #testnet-faucet channel in the official Sui Network Discord. Up until recently, it was very difficult to join the Sui Discord due to a limitation of members allowed in the server, but the admins have recently eliminated a lot of inactive users, so there is space to join again if you weren't able to do so earlier. You can request from the testnet faucet once every two hours.
• Souffl3 Discord Faucet: Souffl3 is one of several NFT platforms I've been supporting during the testnet phase, and they also offer a faucet on their Discord server. It's a great way to earn enough to purchase some testnet NFTs on their platform!
• BlueMove's Swap Interface: BlueMove is also another NFT platform expanding out onto the Sui Network, AND they offer a swap platform where you can test swapping between other testnet coins and tokens. Several projects building on Sui have collaborated with BlueMove to include their testnet tokens on BlueMove's swapping platform - and BlueMove is offering a faucet where users can request some testnet $BTC and $USDT twice each. This is a great resource to either convert some of your test coins into $SUI or many of the other project tokens you might need for various projects you're supporting.

Conclusion

I'm still actively participating in the Sui Network testnet, and I'm looking forward to seeing the fruits of my efforts starting next month. Are you still participating? Any projects in specific that you're rooting for?

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Valdyr is a "crypto-curious" blogger living in Texas with her husband and their ancient dachshund, Henry. When she's not working as an audio/visual technician or stagehand, you'll frequently find her traveling, hiking or enjoying a good craft beer. For more reading, check out www.laurahofford.com/blog/