Beyond Filecoin? A Guide to Walrus, the New Protocol Developed by the Sui Team
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Beyond Filecoin? A Guide to Walrus, the New Protocol Developed by the Sui Team
Walrus will become the most critical protocol on Sui.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: @Steve_4P, Four Pillars
Key Takeaways
- Mysten Labs has successfully launched the Sui network and DeepBook protocol, and is now preparing to introduce a new project—Walrus protocol.
- Despite the decentralized storage market already having numerous protocols, Walrus has attracted significant attention for two main reasons:
(1) Cost-efficiency and security: Walrus is more cost-effective and secure than existing storage solutions;
(2) Programmability: It enables stored data to be programmable via the Sui network.
- As one of the most advanced projects among existing decentralized storage protocols, Walrus’s future utility and value are highly worth watching.
01 Background of Walrus Launch
Mysten Labs has successfully launched the Sui network and DeepBook protocol, and is now entering a new domain—the Walrus protocol. The success of Sui and DeepBook has generated high expectations for Walrus. However, despite the enthusiasm, there are also concerns surrounding the Walrus protocol.
These concerns stem from several factors: the market already has many decentralized storage solutions, many of which have not performed ideally; and there are worries about resource allocation—particularly whether Mysten Labs might divert resources away from continuing to develop and strengthen the Sui network, thereby affecting the progress of new projects.
Therefore, we will explore the structure of the Walrus protocol, analyze how it differs from existing decentralized storage solutions, and further examine the relationship between Walrus and the Sui network, focusing on how Walrus integrates with the Sui architecture and enhances the overall value of the Sui ecosystem.
1. How Walrus Differs from Existing Storage Solutions
To explain why Walrus needs to exist, we first need to discuss how it differs from existing decentralized distributed storage solutions. From my perspective, there are three key differences between Walrus and existing storage models—especially Filecoin and Arweave—which can be summarized as follows:
Storage Cost Efficiency
First, there is a significant difference in storage costs between Walrus, Arweave, and Filecoin. As discussed by Four Pillars in their Walrus article, Arweave uses a system where all nodes must replicate and store all data, while Filecoin allows users to decide how many nodes store their data (users can choose to store data with just one miner, or distribute 100 copies across 100 miners. Obviously, the more miners required to store data, the higher the cost).
In contrast, Walrus uses Red-Stuff encoding, achieving significantly lower costs—up to 100 times more efficient than Arweave and Filecoin (compared to Arweave, which requires full network data replication leading to up to 500x replication cost, Walrus only requires 4-5x replication). At the same time, the probability of data loss is significantly reduced.
In simple terms, Walrus addresses the shortcomings of Arweave and Filecoin. Arweave has low data loss risk but high replication cost; Filecoin offers relatively cheap storage based on user demand, but low-cost options may carry higher data loss risks; Walrus combines the best of both by maintaining low replication costs while minimizing the probability of data loss.
Additionally, for Arweave, costs increase as the number of nodes grows (though not linearly), since it encourages all or designated nodes to store as much complete data as possible. In contrast, Walrus only requires a single network data transfer, with each node storing only a portion of the data, effectively reducing the burden on individual nodes as the network scales. This structural difference makes Walrus significantly more cost-efficient than both Arweave and Filecoin.
Programmability
While Walrus’s efficiency compared to Arweave and Filecoin is important, its most significant distinction from existing storage models is “programmability.” Traditional storage is merely a simple data warehouse, whereas Walrus achieves programmable decentralized storage through the Sui network, giving stored data greater functionality.
What if smart contracts could directly reference or trigger data stored in decentralized storage? For example, when minting an NFT, the image file can be stored in Walrus, and its blob data object can be created on the Sui network, linking it to the NFT object. This solves the traditional NFT’s “incompleteness” problem (where tokens are stored on-chain but NFT metadata is stored off-chain), making NFTs via Walrus true Web3 assets.
Another example directly related to data storage is that since Walrus’s blob data can be stored as Sui objects and controlled via Sui’s Move smart contracts, smart contracts can transfer stored data to other users or automatically change ownership. This is why we say data in Walrus is programmable.
In contrast, Arweave and Filecoin have very limited dynamic integration with on-chain applications—almost impossible in practice. Although Filecoin has added some smart contract capabilities through FVM (Filecoin Virtual Machine), the ability to modify and control data remains limited. Walrus clearly outperforms both protocols in terms of programmability.
Data Access and Deletion
Existing storage protocols share a characteristic: once data is uploaded, it can be accessed by anyone and cannot be deleted. While this may be useful for individual users, it poses major limitations for institutions and enterprises needing to store sensitive data or requiring the ability to modify/delete data. In contrast, Walrus allows users to discard or modify their data when needed (unlike Arweave, where data cannot be deleted or modified; and unlike Filecoin, where data deletion is not user-initiated but occurs only when contracts expire or hosting nodes go offline).
Some may worry this conflicts with blockchain’s immutability principle, but it should be remembered that what is deleted in Walrus is blob data. Transaction data unrelated to blob deletion remains unchanged, and deleting blob data does not affect blockchain integrity.
Compared to traditional storage, this enhanced practicality greatly increases Walrus’s potential for adoption in traditional and Web2 enterprises, further raising market expectations for its versatility.
2. How Walrus Collaborates with the Sui Network
Having discussed how Walrus differs from existing storage protocols, let’s now explore the relationship between Walrus and the Sui network. When Mysten Labs announced plans to launch Walrus, many questioned it, arguing “they should focus on Sui instead of creating another protocol.” However, a closer look at how Walrus works reveals that it does not distract from Sui—it should instead be seen as a storage stack designed to enhance applications on Sui. In other words, Walrus not only complements the Sui network from a storage perspective but also actively impacts Sui’s governance token SUI, making the two inseparable. Let’s explore this further.
Symbiotic Relationship Between Sui and Walrus
In fact, Mysten Labs considered storage issues from the early design phase of Sui. Blockchains inevitably grow during use, which could lead to higher transaction fees for Sui users in the future. Therefore, from Sui’s initial design stage, Mysten Labs introduced a unique concept—the storage fund—to address Sui’s storage challenges.
The Sui storage fund works as follows: fees submitted by users to Sui validators are split into two parts: 1) gas fees related to computation, and 2) storage fees for data storage. Sui collects storage fees upfront when users upload data and channels these funds into the storage fund. The storage fund continuously allocates these funds to validators as long as the data remains on-chain. Additionally, if users delete data, they receive a refund of the storage fee.
Sui’s unique on-chain data storage system creates two effects:
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Users receive refunds when deleting on-chain data, creating economic incentives to reduce distributed ledger capacity.
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The system solves storage sustainability by pre-collecting storage fees and distributing them as rewards to future validators.
Although Sui resolves sustainability through this unique structure, storing large-scale blob data (such as media files) on-chain remains burdensome. This is where Walrus comes in—by storing large-scale blob data via Walrus and objectifying its metadata on Sui, data becomes programmable without being directly stored on Sui.
Furthermore, Walrus achieves its most distinctive feature compared to other storage protocols—making stored data programmable and controllable—through Sui. Ultimately, a symbiotic relationship forms between Sui and Walrus, with each compensating for the other’s weaknesses and creating unique advantages.
Walrus Makes SUI a Deflationary Asset
From the storage fund example, we see that the Sui network requires payment of a certain amount of SUI as storage fees for any object, and Walrus is no exception. When a blob data object is created in Walrus, SUI is locked into the storage fund based on the object’s size (referring to the size of the object representing the blob, not the actual blob size).
Although part of the fee can be refunded upon data deletion, a portion of the fee is permanently destroyed, reducing the total supply. In other words, the more data stored via Walrus, the more SUI is permanently locked in the storage fund, creating a virtuous cycle where increased Walrus usage leads to reduced SUI circulation.
In summary, Walrus’s emergence is positive news for the Sui network, both at the network and asset levels. Sui’s ecosystem is expected to become more diverse through Walrus.
02 Walrus Will Become Sui’s Most Critical Protocol
1. Not Just Building a Blockchain
When Mysten Labs was first established, I thought it was just a company focused on the Sui network. However, after seeing services like Deepbook and SuiNS launched, I began to wonder what vision Mysten Labs was truly pursuing. When I encountered Walrus, I realized their goal is to build a complete Web3 decentralized infrastructure.
Compared to other companies, Mysten Labs has a different time horizon when approaching this industry. They are not simply issuing tokens, creating hype, and cashing out quickly. Instead, they have a vision to lead innovation across execution, storage, consensus, and communication, while understanding user inertia toward Web2 services and building the most suitable UI for them.
The Sui network handles execution and consensus (constantly evolving through initiatives like Mysticeti, Pilotfish, and Remora), storage is handled by Walrus, communication by SCION (a next-generation internet architecture capable of protecting network packets, known for DDoS protection and immunity to routing attacks—note that SCION was not created by Mysten Labs but will be applied to the Sui network), and Web2-friendly UI is managed by zkLogin, Stashed, SEAL, and KELP.
If all these initiatives succeed, I believe Mysten Labs could rewrite the current Web3 paradigm. My initial thinking was narrow—Mysten Labs is not just trying to build a blockchain; they are a team building infrastructure for a new network. Of course, I see Sui at the core of Mysten Labs’ vision, with other initiatives playing complementary roles. Walrus is no different—in my view, Walrus may be the most important protocol of them all.
2. Walrus Is Not Limited to the Sui Ecosystem
However, Walrus is not confined to the Sui ecosystem. Like other storage protocols, Walrus can be used by any third party—not just Sui applications—and it may even serve as a strong alternative to existing storage protocols or other DA layers (such as Celestia, EigenDA, Avail).
This usability extends SUI demand beyond the Sui network. When Walrus is used, data objects are created on the Sui network, leading to reduced SUI circulation. In other words, Walrus has the potential to make SUI a more attractive asset by generating external demand (this is not investment advice, but a structurally plausible scenario). Therefore, Walrus is poised to become a bridge, expanding Sui in multiple directions.
3. Can Walrus Surpass Filecoin?
Although caution is needed when comparing specific protocol values, I am highly optimistic about Walrus’s future because: 1) its operational mechanism is far more efficient than existing storage protocols, 2) it can perform tasks existing storage protocols cannot (e.g., serving as a DA layer or enabling programmable stored data), and 3) it already has a solid network and user base through the Sui network.
If Walrus is not merely a storage layer for the Sui network but, as Mysten Labs envisions, becomes the representative storage protocol for Web3, it has the potential to become the leading protocol in the storage space.
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