Over the past few years of Web3 entrepreneurship, I’ve experimented a lot with storage solutions. Our early team encountered many pitfalls—using centralized storage was constantly criticized by users over data security concerns; they simply didn’t trust it. Switching to traditional decentralized storage schemes led us into cost traps—high expenses eating into profits on one side, and on the other, failing to meet compliance requirements like data deletion. It wasn’t until we truly tested Walrus that we realized a reliable storage solution isn’t about having the single strongest feature, but about finding a balance among multiple pain points in entrepreneurship.

What impressed me most about Walrus is that it integrates compliance into its core design, rather than patching it on afterward. Our project handles user health data and transaction records, and EU users explicitly demand data deletion rights. The storage protocols we used before either couldn’t meet this requirement or cost an arm and a leg. Walrus’s native Seal access control is different—it directly sets data permissions via on-chain logic and supports active deletion, seamlessly aligning with GDPR requirements. This optimization broke down the compliance barrier for our overseas market, and the value is self-evident.

Cost-wise, it was an even bigger surprise. As a startup, every dollar counts. Walrus uses RedStuff two-dimensional coding technology to reduce storage costs to just 1% of some leading storage solutions. Coupled with Quilt batch storage, the cost for small files drops by 420 times. We now store nearly 50TB of user data, and our monthly expenses are just a fraction of previous solutions. Supported by Pipe edge nodes, access speed remains stable within 50ms, with no compromise on user experience.

For entrepreneurs like us, Walrus’s real value lies in "not causing trouble, truly empowering." It deeply integrates with the Sui ecosystem, eliminating the need for additional cross-chain adaptation work. With $140 million in funding and support from top-tier institutions, we’re even more confident in its long-term stability. It doesn’t rely on flashy gimmicks to grab attention but uses solid technical design to solve the key concerns of entrepreneurs—compliance, cost, and performance. That’s the main reason I chose to make it the core storage foundation.