About SushiSwap (SUSHI)

An Ethereum-based (ERC-20) token, SUSHI facilitates the governance of the SushiSwap protocol, a network of decentralized liquidity pools enabling users to earn yield (from a host of ERC-20 based tokens). 

When it forked off of (and cloned all aspects of) Uniswap in late August of 2020, the upstart decentralized exchange (DEX) was dubbed a "vampire mining pool," having, via incentives and social media fanfare, drained some $800 million from its rival.

Adding to the strange and mysterious origin tale is the role of SushiSwap's anonymous creator, "Chef Nomi," who, soon after the launch, left excited and took $14 million in SUSHI tokens with him, but then returned them as key developers figures and financial backers came together to rescue the project – at the time, primarily a community-driven automated market maker (AMM)/smart-contract liquidity management system. -- and, eventually, led by a second influential, pseudonymously named project leader, 0xMaki, became a much more multi-faceted ecosystem. OxMaki, in late September 2021, also stepped away. 

Not surprisingly, first-mover Uniswap is much larger, more closely synonymous with decentralized finance ("DeFi"), and still dominates Ethereum-based DEX activity; but right there, sitting in second place, is the SushiSwap AMM.

Since the start of 2021, SUSHI, which bills itself the "home of DeFi," has introduced a slew of new features and innovations: Multi-chain AMM; Kashi Lending & Leverage (a margin trading system); BentoBox dApps; xSUSHI staking; Miso, a token launch platform; and Onsen, a liquidity provision reward system for staking a rotating menu of relatively new tokens. 

SUSHI’s integration with Yearn finance is seen as putting SushiSwap in a position to serve as a default exchange platform tying in other Yearn-related applications. 

The current price of SushiSwap (SUSHI)

As of mid-September 2021, SUSHI was roughly $13, some 40% lower than its all-time high reached in March. SUSHI's market capitalization is roughly $2.8 billion, making it the 62nd-largest crypto asset, as ranked by CoinGecko. 

Since November of 2020, SUSHI has risen more than 2,600%. Even when a SUSHI-connected platform, Miso, got stung (Sept. 17) by an NFT-related scheme (resulting in the theft of $3 million worth of ETH), the blowback in terms of impact on the token was relatively minor.

How the price of SushiSwap (SUSHI) is determined

The total supply of SUSHI tokens has been capped at 25034 million tokens; the release of new tokens decreases each month.

The circulating supply is estimated to be at around 190 million. New SUSHI tokens are created, or "emitted," via incentivized liquidity pools on the SushiSwap platform.

SUSHI holders are thought to number in excess of 150,000. The token trades on major exchanges. Roughly $1 billion worth of SUSHI changes hands every 24 hours, as of mid-September.

SushiSwap aggregates a daily transaction volume of $305 million.

Traders use exchange volume as a proxy for assigning a valuation to its native token.

"If you're considering buying it, it would be good to pay attention to similar tokens in the DeFi space and read up on possible regulatory changes," The Ascent's Emma Newbery has said. "A solid understanding of decentralized finance will help you to get the most out of the token."

What the bulls are saying about SushiSwap (SUSHI)

Based on SushiSwap transaction volume, and contrasting it to some rival exchanges, the token, at $13, could be considered as trading at a major discount, roughly 33% lower than where it should be, Cointelegraph said on Sept. 1.

Indeed, SUSHI could be considered the most undervalued crypto-token, according to Jeff Dorman, the chief investment officer at crypto investing firm Arca, tweeting in May when the token was starting to fall below $20, per MarketRealist.

“The more blockchains Sushi branches out to, the more fees generated by users," said DeFi analyst Kris Kay pointing out SushiSwap is currently the fifth highest-earning protocol after Ethereum, Uniswap, Binance Smart Chain, and Aave.

What the bears are saying about SushiSwap (SUSHI)

Uniswap has clearly dominated the DEX platform space, with its total value locked beating SushiSwap’s significantly, AMBCrypto said, noting that a scenario in which SushiSwap ever upends said pecking order "doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon."

Spelling out a potentially bearish scenario -- if crypto falls out of favor and bears take over price discovery -- the price of SUSHI might decrease toward $6, according to analysts at Coin Quora.

The Economic Forecast Agency predicts SUSHI’s price will remain volatile, dropping to below $7 in the next two years.