Sui and Cardano have moved to the center of an emerging contest for Bitcoin-linked decentralized finance liquidity, according to an analysis from CryptoFly, which argues that Sui may have the faster route to institutional capital while Cardano has spent a longer period developing more decentralized alternatives.

The stakes are substantial: Bitcoin is valued at more than $1 trillion, while the video cites total value locked across the DeFi sector at roughly $76 billion. Bitcoin's own scripting cannot natively run DeFi applications, so BTC generally reaches these protocols through wrapped tokens or bridge arrangements — most prominently Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), the Ethereum-based token that pioneered the model at scale after launching in 2019.

Custody remains the central obstacle to unlocking that capital. Traditional bridges typically lock assets under validator, oracle, or multisig controls, which creates large, concentrated targets for attackers. The host said more than 20 bridge exploits had occurred in the prior six months, resulting in over $400 million in losses across multiple chains. That risk profile is well documented: the Ronin and Wormhole bridge hacks of 2022 each drained hundreds of millions of dollars, making cross-chain bridges among the most-exploited categories in crypto.

Sui's Hashi Targets Bitcoin Liquidity With Layered Controls

Sui — a Layer-1 chain built on the Move programming language by Mysten Labs, a team whose founders came out of Meta's Diem project — recently launched the Hashi testnet for Bitcoin DeFi. Under the proposed model, Bitcoin remains locked on the Bitcoin testnet while users receive HBTC on Sui, a token intended to be backed one-to-one by the underlying BTC and usable across Sui's DeFi applications.

Linda questioned the "bridgeless bridge" label, noting that the system still resembles a wrapped-asset arrangement. The claimed distinction lies in its security model: Hashi uses both its own validator network and an independent guardian group to verify Bitcoin transactions. "Before any Bitcoin can even move, both sides have to approve it," the market aficionado said.

Hashi has reportedly drawn in more than 25 institutional partners and projects, including BitGo, Ledger, Blockdaemon, and Cumberland — a roster that spans custody, hardware, infrastructure, and trading desks. CryptoFly cautioned that partnership announcements do not always indicate deep product integration, but said the roster could provide a meaningful liquidity advantage once the platform reaches mainnet.

Cardano Has Multiple BTC DeFi Projects but Less Liquidity

Cardano's approach is less concentrated. Fluid Tokens is developing ByFrost, a trust-minimizing Bitcoin bridge that relies on Cardano's stake-pool network — the same operators that validate the chain under its Ouroboros proof-of-stake protocol; according to the video, the project has been in development for about two years and is now live on testnet. Other efforts include Z-Swap's BTC Karma and POGAN, an initiative from IOG (Input Output, the engineering firm that develops Cardano's core software) that aims to support Bitcoin-backed lending, borrowing, and credit markets.

That diversity may give Bitcoin holders more choices, but it also leaves uncertainty over which product will ultimately win liquidity. The host contrasted Sui's cited $430 million in DeFi total value locked (TVL) with Cardano's $62 million, despite describing Sui's roughly $3 billion market capitalization as about half of Cardano's. With Hashi and ByFrost both still confined to testnet, neither ecosystem has yet moved production Bitcoin through these systems, leaving mainnet launches and the depth of follow-on integrations as the practical measures of progress.