Move Creator Sam Blackshear Leaves Mysten Labs, What Next for SUI?

Move programming language creator and Mysten Labs co-founder Sam Blackshear has announced his departure from the company to join Anthropic, where he will focus on defensive security research. While stepping away from day-to-day operations, Blackshear confirmed he will continue supporting the Sui ecosystem as an advisor to Mysten Labs, Sui builders, and the planned Move Foundation.

Following the announcement, SUI traded around $0.6848, down 1.02% over the past 24 hours.

Leadership Transition at Mysten Labs

With Blackshear leaving, Evan Web3 will take over the company’s technical leadership.

Evan said he will return to leading engineering and research teams directly, overseeing the full research-to-product cycle as both CEO and CTO. He described the next 12 months as a crucial period for Mysten Labs and said he plans to stay closely involved with product development.

August Price Action Keeps SUI in Focus

Despite the leadership change, some market watchers are paying closer attention to SUI’s on-chain activity than its price. Analyst Benji said stablecoin supply on the network jumped 30% this week, the biggest increase he has tracked in the past two months, while monthly net inflows reached $921,000, compared to a previous baseline of around $40,000. 

Even with stronger capital inflows, SUI continues to trade near $0.69, which he described as a gap between improving network activity and price performance. Benji says this is the first time in months that capital inflows have strengthened while price has remained largely unchanged. However, he added that total value locked (TVL), network fees, and a move above $0.72 are still needed before the trend becomes more convincing.

Another analyst, Kaleo, pointed out that the SUI/BTC pair is approaching the same support zone where it rebounded in August 2024, before delivering a 5x rally over the following four months. 

While he did not make a price prediction, he said the current setup is worth monitoring if buyers continue defending that level.