The Sui blockchain has taken a major step to overhaul transaction handling in a major consensus update that targets lower latency and higher efficiency.
Summary
- Sui upgraded its consensus engine to reduce latency.
- Transaction handling is now lighter and more efficient.
- A new submission path cuts bandwidth and CPU usage.
Sui is rolling out a new version of its consensus engine, designed to make transactions faster and less resource-intensive, without altering how the network operates at its base layer.
The update was announced by Mysten Labs engineers on Nov. 6, outlining how Mysticeti v2 integrates transaction validation directly into the consensus process.
A shift in how transactions move through the network
Mysticeti, first activated on Sui’s (SUI) mainnet in July 2024, is a DAG-based consensus model built for speed and responsiveness. The goal was always to reduce waiting time between when a transaction is submitted and when it becomes final.
While the first version of Mysticeti improved network latency, part of Sui’s transaction handling still depended on a separate pre-consensus validation step. That step made sense from a control and security standpoint, but it added extra computation and slowed finalization for more complex transactions.
Mysticeti v2 eliminates that separation. Validation and consensus now occur simultaneously, eliminating redundant work and reducing the time required to confirm non-fast-path transactions. This change allows the network to move closer to the performance levels the original Mysticeti design aimed for — processing many transactions at once without increasing network strain.
A new path for submitting transactions
Alongside the consensus change, Sui is also replacing its transaction submission flow. The previous Quorum Driver sent every transaction to all validators and required multiple rounds of signature aggregation before ordering could begin. This protected the fast-path flow but consumed a large amount of bandwidth and CPU.
The new Transaction Driver sends a transaction to just one validator, which then coordinates certification through the network. Signatures are now batched inside consensus blocks instead of being attached to individual transactions, bringing both bandwidth and compute usage down.
Mysten Labs reported that early rollout on its own and partner-operated full nodes produced meaningful reductions in latency, especially in Asia and Europe. With node version 1.60, Mysticeti v2 and Transaction Driver will become the default configuration across the network.
What comes next
Mysten Labs said the next phase of work will focus on reducing the average number of message rounds needed to commit transactions, enabling consensus blocks to stream more directly to full nodes, and addressing object-level “deadlock” issues that appear in certain execution patterns.
These changes are aimed at tightening responsiveness while preserving the flexibility and ownership-based execution model that Sui is built on.
