Walrus protocol depth analysis: Innovation in decentralized storage and data availability based on Sui

Walrus is an innovative decentralized storage and data availability protocol designed to provide an economical and composable storage layer for blockchain applications and autonomous agents. This protocol is specifically tailored for storing large volumes of unstructured data such as images, videos, AI datasets, and blockchain archives. The core advantage of Walrus lies in its custom erasure coding algorithm Red Stuff, which achieves rapid data recovery with minimal redundancy, significantly dropping storage costs. This protocol is natively built on the Sui Blockchain and offers a fully decentralized web hosting experience through Walrus Sites.

The working principle of the Walrus protocol: Red Stuff and on-chain metadata

The Walrus protocol addresses the cost and efficiency issues of storing large-scale data on the blockchain through innovative encoding and on-chain/off-chain separation mechanisms.

Encoding and off-chain storage

· Red Stuff Algorithm: When data is uploaded to Walrus, it is split into smaller pieces (called slivers) using the custom erasure coding algorithm Red Stuff.

· Efficiency and Flexibility: The innovation of Red Stuff lies in its dispersal of encoded fragments across multiple storage nodes, rather than storing complete copies at each node. This allows Walrus to maintain system resilience with less data redundancy—meaning that even if some nodes go offline, the original data can still be reconstructed from the remaining fragments.

· Availability verification: Storage nodes must regularly verify that they still hold the allocated fragments to ensure the continuous availability of data.

On-chain metadata and verification

· On-chain/off-chain separation: Large files (referred to as blobs) are not stored on the Sui Blockchain itself. Instead, Walrus only stores its metadata and Proofs of Availability on Sui.

· Zero-Knowledge Proof: A Proof of Availability is an encrypted record used to confirm that a storage node still holds the allocated data fragments. This allows anyone to verify whether the data is still accessible without downloading or checking the complete file.

· Smart Contract Integration: Developers can use Sui smart contracts written in the Move programming language to directly reference and verify these stored blobs in their applications.

Data Retrieval Process

When requesting a stored file, the aggregator collects the required fragments from multiple nodes and reassembles the original data. To speed up access, the retrieved content can be delivered via a Content Delivery Network (CDN) or cache.

Core Applications and Ecosystem: Walrus Sites and WAL Token

Walrus not only provides underlying storage services but also establishes a complete ecosystem through its unique application Walrus Sites and the native token WAL.

Walrus Sites: Decentralization website accomplice

Walrus Sites are decentralized websites directly hosted on the Walrus and Sui networks, providing an alternative to traditional Web hosting.

· Permanence and censorship resistance: Static files uploaded by developers through website building tools are permanently stored on decentralized nodes, making them censorship-resistant and highly available.

· On-chain features: Each website is bound to a Sui address, which can be associated with NFTs and supports SuiNS (Sui Name Service) for human-readable names. Developers can connect wallets and use smart contracts to add interactive features.

diversified use cases

Walrus can integrate with multiple blockchains, supporting applications that require scalable, Decentralization data storage, including:

NFT and DApp: Store and distribute media files such as images, videos, and audio.

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Store verified datasets, AI model weights, and proof of correct training to ensure the authenticity of AI data and outputs.

Blockchain Data Archiving: As an alternative storage layer for the history of the Sui Blockchain (such as checkpoints, transaction records) and historical state snapshots.

Data Availability: Supports Layer 2 networks by proving the availability of off-chain data (such as blobs, validity proofs, zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs)).

WAL Token Economic Model

WAL is the native token of the Walrus protocol, with a maximum supply of 5 billion coins, and follows a deflationary model.

· Payment: Token used to pay for data storage fees on Walrus. The WAL prepaid by users will be distributed over time to nodes and stakers as rewards.

· Security: Supports network security through delegated staking. Users can stake or delegate tokens to storage nodes to earn rewards.

· Governance: WAL holders can vote to decide key network parameters and penalty settings, participating in network governance.

CEX HODLer airdrop

On October 10, 2025, mainstream CEX announced WAL as the 49th CEX HODLer airdrop project. A total of 32.5 million WAL (accounting for 0.65% of the total supply) was allocated to BNB users who subscribed to Simple Earn or On-Chain Yields products during the period from October 1 to 3. WAL has been listed on the CEX and comes with a Seed Tag.

Conclusion

The Walrus protocol combines decentralized storage with the high performance of the Sui Blockchain, providing a secure and cost-effective data management solution through the Red Stuff Algorithm. Whether it's the fully decentralized web hosting provided to developers by Walrus Sites or its potential uses in AI and Layer 2 data availability, Walrus offers key infrastructure for building the next generation of data-driven applications in a decentralized environment.

Disclaimer: This article is for news information only and does not constitute any investment advice. The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, and investors should make decisions with caution.

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