Walrus is not simply a new file repository. It is a decentralized storage system that is based on the Sui blockchain and is capable of storing large files such as images, videos, documents, and datasets. In a conventional storage system—a cloud storage service such as Google Drive or any of the earlier decentralized storage systems—a file is stored in a centralized server or replicated in such a way that every node retains a complete copy of the file. This would either be subject to downtime or prove to be a cost bottleneck. Walrus deviates from this in that it uses a sophisticated technique called Red Stuff erasure coding to encode chunks of files into many independent storage nodes. In doing so, Walrus can store files for a storage cost that is only about five times larger than the actual file itself, compared to what would be a huge cost burden for either blockchain storage or cloud storage solutions.
However, the major difference lies in what happens to the data after it’s been stored on Walrus. In the traditional approach, the data resides in a silo, which means that the storage is decoupled from the applications that it serves. . This makes the data programmable by virtue of Walrus. This means that for every file that is stored, there is a storage identifier that is on-chain. This allows smart contracts to either verify or even control the lifecycle of such information. Applications can be developed such that the storage rules regarding whether files expire or how images are connected to storage assets can be executed on-chain. This is not something that cloud storage is capable of, nor is this what decentralized storage platforms did before. This has enabled new areas such as decentralized NFTs, web apps, and AI datasets.
On the side of resilience, the traditional system of centralized storage could fail if the server did not function properly. The traditional form of replication still has a high network load. Walrus has designed the system such that even when most of the storage nodes fail, the data can still be recovered using the erasure code. Walrus is actually trading the need for full replication for the need for intelligent distribution and recovery.
A further deviation from traditional models is in handling data and storage. In the Walrus system, storage is a blockchain-managed resource. Users pay in the native WAL token for storing data for a period of time, while storage providers stake tokens and earn rewards for maintaining availability of that data. An economic layer adds incentives and transparency that are not part of classic cloud pricing models. Since storage space and blobs exist as on-chain objects, they can be owned, transferred, or referenced by other contracts, making storage a programmable asset rather than a utility.
Why the sudden interest in this? Walrus launched mainnet and integrations in 2025, and already builders are tinker-toying with it for decentralized websites, media storage, NFTs, and even large AI datasets-all needing reliability and on‑chain verification.
So, putting it in the most basic terms, what makes Walrus different isn't where your data is stored, but how it's encoded and verified.
