What Is NAVI Protocol? Sui Lending and the NAVX Token
NAVI Protocol is a lending and borrowing protocol on Sui. How it works, the NAVX token, audits, the 2026 Volo vault incident, and how it compares to Suilend.
NAVI Protocol is a decentralised lending and borrowing protocol on Sui where users supply assets to earn interest or borrow against their collateral. Live on Sui mainnet since July 2023, it is one of the two largest money markets on the network, and it also owns the Volo liquid staking protocol and the Astros swap and perpetuals front end.
NAVI Protocol at a glance
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Category | Lending and borrowing (money market) |
| Chain | Sui |
| Native token | NAVX (1,000,000,000 max supply) |
| Launched | July 2023 (Sui mainnet) |
| Key products | Lending markets, isolated markets, Prime and High Yield vaults, flash loans, Volo (vSUI liquid staking), Astros swaps and perps |
| TVL | About $172M in NAVI Lending, with roughly $80M borrowed (DefiLlama, October 2026) |
| Audits / security record | Audited by OtterSec and MoveBit (reports for 2023, 2024 and 2025); no exploit of the lending contracts on DefiLlama's hack list; its subsidiary Volo lost about $3.5M from three vaults in April 2026 |
| Website | naviprotocol.io |
| Integrated with JewelSwap | No (not integrated) |
What is NAVI Protocol?
NAVI launched on Sui mainnet in July 2023, a few months after the network itself went live. It started with an over-collateralised money market for SUI, USDC, USDT and bridged ETH. As of 10 October 2026, DefiLlama shows NAVI Lending at about $172M in deposits, roughly level with Suilend for the top spot among Sui lenders.
In January 2024 NAVI announced it was acquiring Volo, a Sui liquid staking protocol that issues vSUI. That made NAVI the first Sui team to put lending, borrowing and liquid staking under one roof. NAVI's documentation also lists Astros, a swap and perpetuals interface.
If you are new to how Sui money markets differ from each other, our comparison of Sui lending protocols puts NAVI side by side with Suilend and Scallop.
How NAVI Protocol works
NAVI follows the pool-based model that Aave made popular on Ethereum. Each supported asset has its own liquidity pool with its own parameters.
- Supply. You deposit an asset into its pool and start earning the variable supply rate, which rises as more of the pool is borrowed.
- Borrow. Supplied assets can serve as collateral. Each asset has a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, for example 75%, which sets how much you can borrow against it.
- Health factor. NAVI calculates a health factor from your collateral value, liquidation thresholds and debt. Below 1, the position can be liquidated. Our guide to the health factor in DeFi lending explains the maths.
- Liquidation. Liquidations are permissionless. A liquidator repays up to 35% of the debt (depending on the token) and receives the equivalent collateral plus a liquidation penalty, part of which goes to NAVI's treasury.
Key features
- Isolated markets. Each market has its own collateral set, LTVs, liquidation thresholds and interest-rate curve, limiting contagion between assets.
- Prime and High Yield vaults. Prime vaults are curated, risk-isolated lending with published methodologies and scheduled withdrawals; High Yield vaults open more markets for higher returns and higher risk.
- Flash loans. All pools support single-transaction loans with no upfront collateral, built around Sui's programmable transaction blocks.
- Dual oracle feeds. NAVI's materials describe price data from Pyth and Supra, with sanity checks when a price moves sharply or leaves a preset range.
- Volo liquid staking. Through Volo, users can stake SUI for vSUI and then use vSUI as collateral in NAVI markets.
NAVX token
NAVX is NAVI's governance and incentive token, with a fixed maximum supply of 1 billion. It was introduced in early 2024 through a public sale (IDO) run with Cetus. According to NAVI's documentation, the allocation is 45.8% ecosystem and airdrops, 20% team, 16% investors and advisors, 10% treasury, 4% liquidity provision, 3% marketing and 1.2% public sale.
Holders can vote on proposals such as new collateral and isolated-market candidates, incentivised pools and major upgrades. NAVI also runs a dynamic liquidity (dLP) programme: users who lock NAVX/SUI or NAVX/vSUI LP tokens become eligible for boosted NAVX emissions, a share of borrowing fees and extra voting weight.
Risks and track record
NAVI carries the standard money-market risks: liquidation if collateral falls, oracle errors, and utilisation risk, which means you may not be able to withdraw immediately when most of a pool is borrowed. Our explainer on how DeFi liquidations work covers what happens when collateral drops quickly.
On security, NAVI publishes audit reports from OtterSec and MoveBit covering 2023, 2024 and 2025. DefiLlama lists no exploit of NAVI's lending contracts. However, on 21 April 2026 its subsidiary Volo disclosed that about $3.5M had been drained from three isolated vaults (WBTC, XAUm and USDC). Volo froze its vaults, said around $2M was frozen or blocked, and pledged to absorb the loss rather than pass it to users. The root cause had not been officially confirmed at the time of reporting.
Is NAVI Protocol integrated with JewelSwap?
No. JewelSwap has no live integration with NAVI Protocol.
On Sui, JewelSwap's closest offerings work differently. Its leveraged yield farms borrow from Scallop rather than NAVI, so you can farm with leverage without managing a loan by hand. For staking, JWLSUI is minted 1:1 against SUI, and staking it gives SJWLSUI, which appreciates over time. Unbonding takes 10 days and the claim is a transferable NFT.
NAVI Protocol vs other Sui apps
NAVI's closest rival is Suilend, which has a near-identical deposit base as of October 2026 and pairs its money market with the SpringSui liquid staking standard. Scallop is smaller by deposits but is the lender behind JewelSwap's leveraged farms. NAVI's distinguishing points are its in-house LST (vSUI via Volo), curated Prime vaults and the NAVX dLP model.
For a wider view beyond Sui, see our roundup of the best crypto lending platforms of 2026.
Related Sui apps
- Sui — the layer-1 blockchain and the hub of this directory.
- Suilend — NAVI's main lending rival, also home of SpringSui.
- Volo (vSUI) — the liquid staking protocol NAVI acquired in 2024.
- Scallop — Sui money market used by JewelSwap's leveraged farms.
- Haedal (haSUI) — liquid staking token accepted as collateral in NAVI's Prime vaults.
- Cetus — Sui's main concentrated-liquidity DEX.
Learn more on the JewelSwap blog
- Sui lending protocols compared — NAVI, Suilend and Scallop side by side.
- Best crypto lending platforms in 2026 — how Sui lenders stack up against the wider market.
- Health factor in DeFi lending — the number that decides when you get liquidated.
- Scallop, the Sui lending protocol — the lender behind JewelSwap's leveraged farms.
Frequently asked questions
Is NAVI Protocol safe?
No DeFi protocol is risk-free. NAVI's lending contracts are audited by OtterSec and MoveBit and have no recorded exploit on DefiLlama, but its subsidiary Volo lost about $3.5M from three vaults in April 2026. Borrowers also face liquidation risk if their health factor falls below 1.
What is the NAVX token used for?
NAVX is used for governance votes on collateral, markets and upgrades, and for NAVI's dLP programme, where locked NAVX liquidity earns boosted emissions, a share of borrowing fees and extra voting power. Its maximum supply is 1 billion.
Is NAVI Protocol integrated with JewelSwap?
No. JewelSwap has no live integration with NAVI. On Sui, JewelSwap offers leveraged yield farms that borrow from Scallop, and JWLSUI liquid staking.
JewelSwap Sui Ecosystem directory · educational, not financial advice. Data as of October 2026. Browse all Sui apps.
