Walrus: everything you need to know about WAL

What is Walrus?

Walrus is a network for storing large files in a decentralized way. Think of images of NFTs, game assets, AI datasets, or even entire websites.

Many blockchains are not suitable for putting such files directly on-chain. That is often too expensive or technically impractical. Walrus aims to solve that problem. Instead of storing data with every validator, a file is split across multiple storage nodes in the network. Nodes are computers of participants that provide storage space.

Those nodes must then be able to demonstrate that they truly store their portion of the data. That way, content remains available without everything having to be entirely on the blockchain itself.

How does Walrus work?

When you upload a file to Walrus, it is not stored in one place. The network splits the file into multiple pieces and distributes them across different storage nodes.

Those pieces are also encrypted. That means the file can later be restored, even if some of the nodes are temporarily offline. So you’re not dependent on a single party to store everything.

The network also checks whether nodes truly continue to store their data. Nodes must be able to prove that they still have their share. If they do not, they risk missing out on rewards or even being penalized in the future.

The coordination of this takes place via smart contracts on Sui. These specify which nodes are responsible for which data, how long storage lasts, and how payments are distributed.

Walrus uses fixed periods, called epochs. For each epoch, it is determined which nodes together form the storage committee. They are responsible during that period for keeping the data available.

The WAL token

WAL is the native token of the Walrus network and plays a central role in the system.

Pay for storage
Anyone who wants to store data pays for it in WAL. That payment is distributed over time among the storage nodes and stakers who keep the network running.

Security through staking
WAL can be delegated to storage nodes. The amount of stake affects which nodes are assigned data and how many rewards they earn. Poorly performing nodes may (in the future) be subject to slashing, whereby a portion of their stake is withheld.

Governance of network parameters
WAL is also used to adjust certain network settings, such as reward structures or penalties. This mainly concerns technical parameters that must keep the system fair and stable.

The maximum supply is 5 billion WAL.

The technology behind Walrus

Walrus is built for so-called “blob storage”: storing large, unstructured files in a verifiable manner.

Instead of storing a complete file on every node, data is encoded and distributed. As a result, a file can be restored even if part of the network temporarily fails. This increases reliability without the costs of full on-chain storage.

An important component is verification. The network relies not only on promises from nodes, but actively checks whether data is still available. Nodes must be able to demonstrate that they are meeting their storage obligations. In this way, economic incentives are linked to technical control.

The “programmable” side lies in the integration with Sui. Metadata and coordination take place via Sui objects and smart contracts. This enables developers to set rules around storage, such as access rights, time limits or updates, while the large files themselves remain off-chain.

The Walrus ecosystem

Walrus is primarily used as a building block within the Sui ecosystem. Think of:

• Walrus Sites (decentralized website hosting)
• Delegated staking to storage nodes
• Apps that want to store media or data off-chain, but still verifiable

Benefits of Walrus

• Designed for large files and media
• Decentralized storage
• Integration with Sui enables programmable storage

Disadvantages of Walrus

• Infrastructure project: the value depends heavily on adoption by apps
• Relatively new ecosystem, tooling and usage still need to prove themselves

Who are the founders of Walrus?

Walrus was developed by Mysten Labs, the team behind Sui. The further growth and support of the protocol is overseen by the Walrus Foundation, which helps to roll out and develop the ecosystem.