#walrus $WAL The Economics of Blob Storage & Cost Efficiency
One of the biggest barriers to decentralized storage adoption has historically been cost. Storing large files on-chain is notoriously expensive and inefficient. The Walrus Protocol solves this through its innovative use of "blob storage" and erasure coding on the Sui network.
Unlike traditional replication methods that require storing full copies of data across multiple nodes (multiplying costs), erasure coding allows data to be broken into fragments. This means the network can reconstruct the original data from just a fraction of the total fragments, drastically reducing the storage overhead and, consequently, the cost for the end-user. This economic model positions Walrus as a viable competitor to traditional cloud giants like AWS or Google Cloud, but with the added benefits of decentralization and immutability.
Holders of $WAL play a crucial role in this economy, participating in staking and governance to maintain the network's integrity. For developers building media-rich applications, this cost efficiency is the key to scaling without breaking the bank.
