Crypto traders and investors, let's dissect $WAL from Walrus Protocol. In a market flooded with meme coins, infrastructure tokens like WAL stand out for real utility. Launched post-mainnet in 2025, it's the native asset for a decentralized storage network on Sui.
Core utilities: Staking secures nodes—dPoS model where delegators earn yields. Fees for storage/retrieval burn or redistribute $WAL, creating deflation. Governance: Holders vote on upgrades, like encoding params or reward tweaks. As data demand grows (AI, DeFi, NFTs), so does token velocity.
Supply: Capped, with vesting for team/early backers. Economics favor holders—low inflation via staking locks. Current metrics (Jan 2026): Price ~$0.149, MC mid-tier, 24h vol $20M+. Binance listing boosted liquidity.
Why bullish? Walrus solves real problems: Cheap, scalable storage for blobs. Erasure coding beats replication; integrations with Pipe, FLock drive adoption. Mainnet milestones: TBook NFTs, Talus AI.
Risks: Competition from Filecoin, but Walrus's Sui synergy gives edge in speed. Market dips could hurt, but fundamentals solid.
DYOR, but I'm accumulating under $1. What's your take?