Decentralized storage platform: Walrus is a programmable storage network built on the Sui blockchain (what is Sui?). It lets developers store, deliver, and manage large data files (blobs) on-chain, making data programmable and tamper‐resistant.
Backed by major investors: Originally developed by Mysten Labs (the Sui team), Walrus is now championed by the Walrus Foundation. To accelerate its vision, it secured $140M in funding (led by Standard Crypto, a16z crypto, Franklin Templeton, etc.).
Innovative tech: Walrus uses a novel 2D erasure-coding scheme (“RedStuff”) to split and store data shards across many nodes with only 4–5× replication. This yields high performance and resilience (data can recover even if two-thirds of shards are missing).
Developer-focused: Walrus provides first-class tools (a CLI, JSON/HTTP APIs, and SDKs) and integrates with Move smart contracts on Sui, so apps can programmatically store and update data. It supports traditional web protocols (caching, CDNs) for smooth integration.
Token and incentives: Walrus have a native $WAL token for storage payments, staking, and governance. Mainnet launched in March 2025, and tokenomics plans include community airdrops and subsidies.
Introduction
Blockchain applications often struggle to handle large data (like videos, images, AI datasets, or game assets) on-chain. Traditional storage services can be costly or introduce central points of failure. Walrus addresses this gap by providing a decentralized, on-chain storage layer that is scalable, programmable, and optimized for Web3 apps. In other words, Walrus lets developers publish and manage rich data on-chain with the ease of a storage API, while leveraging blockchain security. In this article, we explain Walrus’s design, features, and how to try it out. cover its tech innovations (like erasure coding), its backing and funding, tokenomics and future roadmap.
Walrus is a decentralized storage and data availability protocol built on the Sui blockchain. It was developed by the Mysten Labs team.
