Most tokens have similar stories: the more you use them, the higher their value. Trading volume increases → Gas demand rises → tokens soar in value.

But WAL plays by a different logic.

Its success is actually marked by making each payment scarce and precious. It sounds counterintuitive, but this is precisely what makes Walrus the smartest.

Imagine this process: as the network grows, storage costs are spread out, and 1GB drops from today's price to 0.1 WAL in the future, or even 0.01 WAL. The efficiency of erasure coding continues to improve, allowing the same WAL to store data for a longer period. Coupled with the built-in deflationary destruction mechanism, each WAL's purchasing power increases.

Users end up spending less WAL, while the data persistence they get is stronger. From "pay every month" to "pay once and keep forever."

The paradox here is: why has WAL become more expensive?

The answer lies in qualitative demand change, not in quantity growth. Early on, maybe 1,000 people stored emojis, consuming 1,000 WAL daily. In a mature stage, perhaps only 10 DAOs store governance documents, consuming just 10 WAL daily, but these 10 WAL are locked for 3 years. High-frequency useless transactions turn into low-frequency, high-value locked storage.

WAL is no longer a flow token for burning; it is the foundational deposit for digital civilization.

This completely changes the valuation logic. Traditional models look at "circulation speed × trading volume"; WAL considers "staking depth × time span × irreplaceability." When gaming platforms store core assets on Walrus, it's not just buying a service — it's using WAL to guarantee the permanence of digital assets.