Walrus did not emerge as a theoretical idea or a product aimed at noise, but rather started from a real problem faced by Web3 for years:
How can massive and unstructured files — such as videos, AI model weights, datasets, and large archives — be stored in a decentralized manner, without the costs being exorbitant or the performance being weak?
Traditional solutions in decentralized storage were primarily built to handle small transactions, not heavy 'Blobs'. With complete copies being repeated dozens of times to ensure availability, costs became unreasonable. Here, Walrus brought an entirely different philosophy:
Storage is not just data copying, but intelligent management of availability, retrieval, and economic incentives.
How Walrus rethought decentralized storage?
Walrus divides the problem into two clear levels:
1. How do we make data available and retrievable at the lowest possible cost?
2. How do we coordinate a distributed storage network and incentivize it economically in an auditable way?
To answer this, Walrus combines advanced encoding techniques (Erasure Coding) with the Sui blockchain as a control and coordination layer, instead of trying to build a new consensus from scratch.
The result:
A system that considers large files as first-class On-chain objects, can be registered, referenced, tracked in copies, and verified for availability — without the data itself being stored on-chain.
The technical secret: encoding instead of blind copying
Instead of repeating the entire file across dozens of nodes, Walrus uses fast retrieval linear encoding (Erasure Codes) that does:
Dividing the file into encrypted parts
Distributing these parts across hundreds of nodes
Enabling full file retrieval using just a part of these pieces
This approach drastically reduces costs while maintaining availability and robustness even in an unreliable or hostile (Byzantine) environment.
The system operates in Epochs and divides the load according to file identifiers, making scaling, repair, and retrieval more predictable.
Sui: a control layer, not a data store
In Walrus, the data itself is not loaded onto Sui.
Instead, Sui is used as a smart dashboard that records:
Registering files (Blobs)
Encoding and distribution data
Proofs of Availability
Management of payments, rewards, and penalties
This separation between On-chain coordination and Off-chain storage is what makes the system lightweight, auditable, and practically scalable.
WAL: the incentive that connects everyone
Walrus relies on the WAL code to coordinate interests between:
Storage node operators
Applications and publishers
End users
The code is used in:
Actual storage reward
Guaranteeing availability
Governance and adjustment of network standards
And while WAL data appears on trading and monitoring platforms, its real role is to run the internal economy of storage, not just speculation.
Why is Walrus important now?
Because Web3 is no longer just about transactions, but about data:
Massive AI models
Training datasets
Decentralized videos and livestreams
Archiving full chains off-chain
Walrus is specifically designed for these cases, not as a simplified general solution.
Where does it differ from other storage solutions?
Cost closer to the actual data size, not tens of times larger
Periodic proofs of availability instead of blind trust
High composability: smart contracts can directly reference files
Suitable for data markets and systems with intelligent agents
Real risks (without embellishment)
Walrus is not a simple system, and its complexity comes at a cost:
Encoding increases the execution burden on publishers and retrievers
Depends on fine incentives that must be carefully calibrated
Any change in Sui's costs or performance is reflected directly
The balance between penalties and rewards is very sensitive
That's why the team focuses on phased rollout, conservative setup, and continuous auditing.
Conclusion
Walrus does not attempt to be 'another storage project'.
It tries to be the layer that silently carries heavy Web3 data.
When all parts work together —
Efficient encoding, On-chain format, stable contract economy, and easy tools —
Walrus becomes not an academic idea, but a real infrastructure for the era of decentralized data.
A project that doesn't shout...
Yet it carries the weight of the future.
