Walrus is a decentralized storage platform deployed on the Sui blockchain, primarily providing low-cost and censorship-resistant data storage capabilities for Web3 applications.

In terms of core technology, it combines erasure coding and blob storage schemes. Simply put, large files are fragmented and stored across nodes worldwide. Even if some nodes go offline, data can be quickly recovered. This design directly reduces storage costs while ensuring system uptime and data security—more than enough to replace traditional centralized cloud services.

From an application perspective, Walrus is especially popular in fields such as: high-definition media storage for NFTs (finally a place for large high-quality images), hosting datasets for AI models, game asset distribution, and encrypted message backups for social dApps. Compared to other storage solutions, Walrus benefits from Sui’s high-throughput network, offering faster read/write speeds, more flexible pricing plans, and support for variable storage durations. These features collectively significantly lower the barrier to entry for developers.

The WAL token plays a crucial role. It serves as a tool for paying storage fees—creating real demand—and also supports holders in staking to earn rewards and participating in community governance. Through voting, holders can decide how the protocol upgrades and how resources are allocated, making the ecosystem development more democratic.

As the Sui ecosystem’s staked amount continues to grow, Walrus is being increasingly chosen by dApps as their storage layer. The potential in this sector is still expanding.