As we navigate the rapidly changing world of blockchain technology, two platforms, SEI and Hedera, are establishing themselves in different but important ways. Now, SEI is rapidly establishing itself as a key player in the burgeoning decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. At the same time, Hedera is focused on attracting institutional interest and tokenizing real-world assets. This series will provide a fair assessment of the two networks side by side. Beginning August 1–7, we’ll explore their strengths, weaknesses and prospects for long-term growth.

SEI: Riding the DeFi Wave

From the perspective of the DeFi arena, SEI has already proven to be an impressive force by the on-chain numbers, capturing outstanding growth. Yet the platform has seen a dramatic increase in daily transactions of stablecoins. This boom shines a light on the unprecedented activity happening on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and other DeFi applications. Remarkably, daily stablecoin transaction volume on SEI has surpassed $4.68 billion. Further cementing its lead, SEI lured in $110 million in USDC deposits within the first ten days of adopting native USDC. The platform’s DEX volume hit $1.53 billion just in the month of July, reflecting its rising popularity with users within the DeFi ecosystem.

This growth in SEI’s DeFi activity has, in turn, translated into positive price movement for its native token. SEI’s price jumped 33% in the past three months, propelled by robust DeFi expansion — market cap of $1.7 billion. This unprecedented growth is being driven by SEI’s high interest in real world assets (RWAs), stablecoins, and institutional use cases. SEI has a potential $100+ million in RWAs (if they’re included post-merge) and a stablecoin supply ATH of $243 million.

SEI’s path hasn’t been entirely smooth. The platform’s price has shown extreme volatility, seeing low of $0.214 and high of $0.307 in its August 2025 price range. Going back to some of the specific days with a price drop of -10.19% down to -30.11%, showcasing extremely high price volatility. We all know that volatility can be a double-edged sword. It holds out the promise of high reward, but it poses a killer risk to investors. Despite the recent volatility, experts are still bullish on SEI long-term price forecasts. They project prices will be $0.7302-$0.9052 in 2027, and then $7.21-$8.49 in 2033. SEI has a relatively underpenetrated market, with approximately 5.7 billion of the 10 billion total tokens in circulation, leaving room for substantial price movement.

Hedera: The Institutional Play

Hedera has been following an interesting playbook. It is meant to attract more institutional investments, it wants to be the platform of choice for enterprise-grade applications. The platform has secured several high-profile partnerships, including Google Cloud, which has joined the Hedera Governing Council and is now the preferred cloud provider for Hedera’s testnets and services. Google Cloud is playing a key role in helping Hedera scale their consensus service. We benefit from the secure and reliable infrastructure that underpins them, which ensures enterprise-grade uptime and resilience.

Hedera’s centralization around RWAs is continuing to build momentum. In March 2025, the HBAR Foundation’s membership in the ERC3643 Association marked a significant milestone in the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs). In late 2024, Hedera and the HBAR Foundation deepened their partnerships with Chainlink, the crypto industry’s leader in oracle technology. They were able to do this by participating in the Chainlink SCALE program. In early 2025, Binance officially listed USDC on the Hedera network, unlocking a wave of liquidity and new DeFi strategies. The platform took a large step in increasing retail access as it recently listed on Robinhood and Kraken. It recently announced a partnership with Bison Link which has already raised over $100 million for efforts tokenizing real-world assets.

Despite these positive developments, Hedera faces challenges. The platform recently found itself in the spotlight after its USDC supply dropped off a cliff, triggering fears over the platform’s liquidity crisis risk. In this case, Hedera’s USDC supply fell from $224M to $57M (-75%) over the course of three days, or a 70% decline at annualized rates. Nevertheless, HBAR rose 28% over the last three months and trades around $0.26 at writing.

SEI vs. Hedera: A Head-to-Head Comparison

Here's a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of each platform:

Whether you pick SEI or Hedera will ultimately come down to your investment profile and use case.

  • Pros:
    • Strong on-chain growth, particularly in DeFi
    • Rising daily stablecoin transactions and growing DEX activity
    • Positive price movement, backed by DeFi growth
    • Focus on RWAs, stablecoins, and institutional use cases
    • Relatively underpenetrated market
  • Cons:
    • Significant price volatility, posing risks for investors

All things considered, both SEI and Hedera provide distinct value adds. As one of DeFi’s darlings, SEI demonstrates the potential for DeFi projects to scale massively and quickly. In contrast, Hedera is a full-spectrum institutional powerhouse, committed to long-term stability. The blockchain landscape continues to move fast. It’ll be interesting to see how these two platforms continue to evolve and face each other down in this ever-shifting landscape.

  • Pros:
    • Strong institutional backing, including Google Cloud partnership
    • Focus on enterprise-grade applications and RWA tokenization
    • Expanded retail access through listings on major exchanges
  • Cons:
    • Liquidity risks due to significant drop in USDC supply

Which Network is Right for You?

The choice between SEI and Hedera depends on your investment profile and use case.

  • For DeFi enthusiasts and risk-tolerant investors: SEI's strong DeFi growth and potential for high returns may be appealing. However, it's important to be aware of the platform's price volatility.
  • For institutional investors and those seeking stability: Hedera's focus on enterprise-grade applications and institutional partnerships may be a better fit. However, it's important to monitor the platform's liquidity situation.

Ultimately, both SEI and Hedera offer unique value propositions. SEI is a DeFi darling with the potential for rapid growth, while Hedera is an institutional powerhouse with a focus on long-term stability. As the blockchain landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how these two platforms adapt and compete.