The Walrus protocol has entered an exciting new phase, and the latest update makes its direction clearer than ever. After years of careful testing on local environments and testnets, Walrus has officially launched its Mainnet. This transition from experimental stages to a fully live decentralized storage network is significant. It signals that Walrus is no longer just a concept or partial project—developers, identity systems, and distributed applications can now rely on it as real infrastructure.
With Mainnet live, Walrus positions itself as a core distributed data layer for the Sui ecosystem and beyond. The protocol is designed to manage large data files—images, video, and rich media—while remaining independent of any single centralized entity. This upgrade is moving the idea from lab experimentation into practical, real-world use.
The network’s partners demonstrate the direction Walrus is taking. For example, Humanity Protocol, a decentralized identity system, has migrated millions of identity documents from IPFS onto Walrus, with plans to scale this to tens of millions more. This is not a trial; it is a real application handling actual data and meeting genuine performance needs. For projects that demand reliability and scalability, Walrus is proving itself as a dependable data backbone, capable of storing credentials used for authentication across systems, not just static files.
Swarm Network, another partner, has begun storing data generated by distributed AI agents on Walrus. These agents produce vast amounts of records, messages, and evidence, which can quickly become unwieldy. Walrus is serving not just as storage but also as a permanent ledger layer, where data can be stored, searched, and reviewed over time. This reflects the network’s aim to support distributed computing systems requiring both accessible and resilient data, rather than simply “background storage.”
Mainnet features have been shaped by this practical focus. The network now provides more flexible ways to attach metadata to stored files, simplified methods for storage fee management, and tools to monitor node health. While these may seem like small updates, they are critical for projects that need storage to behave reliably in diverse, real-world scenarios.
The Walrus Foundation, which oversees the protocol, is also supporting early adopters through initiatives like storage grants. This approach acknowledges a key truth in distributed systems: early adoption can be challenging, and immediate full-cost requirements can slow growth. By supporting early usage, Walrus encourages real-world testing and adoption.
Looking ahead, Walrus appears set on a path of steady growth, evolving from a core storage system to a fundamental element of distributed infrastructure. It aims to be a trusted storage layer for applications within and beyond the Sui ecosystem, hosting data from decentralized AI oracles and identity systems alike.
From a broader perspective, Walrus is transforming from a prototype data warehouse into a vibrant component of a digital “data city.” It is attracting real users, refining its services to meet their needs, and establishing itself as a foundational layer that developers will want to rely on. The latest update is more than a list of new features—it reflects a network maturing, becoming realistic, and integrating into functional systems.
