The author of this article is @Steve_4P. The article only represents the author's views.

Summary of key points

- Mysten Labs has successfully launched the Sui Network and DeepBook Protocol, and is now preparing to launch a new project - the Walrus Protocol.

- Although there are already many protocols in the decentralized storage market, Walrus has attracted widespread attention due to the following two points: (1) Cost-effectiveness and security: Walrus is more cost-effective and secure than existing storage solutions. (2) Programmability: It enables stored data to be programmable through the Sui network.

- As one of the most advanced projects in the existing decentralized storage protocols, Walrus's future practicality and value are worth paying attention to.

01 Background of Walrus

Mysten Labs has successfully launched the Sui Network and DeepBook Protocol and is now venturing into a new space - the Walrus Protocol. The success of the Sui Network and DeepBook has accumulated a lot of expectations for the Walrus project. However, despite the high enthusiasm, there are also some doubts surrounding the Walrus Protocol.

These concerns stem from several factors: there are already many decentralized storage solutions on the market, many of which have not performed as well as expected; and there are also concerns about resource allocation - specifically, whether Mysten Labs will divert resources to continue developing and growing the Sui network, affecting the advancement of new projects.

Therefore, we will explore the structure of the Walrus protocol, analyze how it differs from existing decentralized storage solutions, and further study the relationship between Walrus and the Sui network, focusing on how Walrus can be integrated with the Sui architecture and enhance the value of the entire Sui ecosystem.

1. Differences between Walrus and 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 main differences between Walrus and existing storage models (especially Filecoin and Arweave), which can be summarized as follows:

Storage cost efficiency

Beyond Filecoin? Read about Walrus, a new protocol developed by Sui team

First, there are significant differences in storage costs between Walrus, Arweave, and Filecoin. As Four Pillars discusses in the 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 only one miner, or distribute 100 copies of data to 100 miners. Obviously, the more miners are required to store data, the higher the cost).

In contrast, Walrus uses Red-Stuff encoding, which shows lower costs than Arweave and Filecoin, and is 100 times more efficient than them (compared with Arweave, which requires full network data storage, resulting in up to 500 times the replication cost, while Walrus only requires 4-5 times the replication). At the same time, the probability of data loss is significantly reduced.

Simply put, Walrus solves the shortcomings of Arweave and Filecoin. Although Arweave has a low probability of data loss, the replication cost is high; although Filecoin provides relatively cheap storage based on user needs, the low-cost option may bring a higher risk of data loss; Walrus combines the advantages of both by keeping the replication cost low while minimizing the probability of data loss.

In addition, for Arweave, as the number of nodes increases, the cost will also increase (although not linearly) because it encourages all nodes/designated nodes to store as much complete data as possible. In contrast, Walrus only requires one network data transfer, and each node stores part of the data, which actually reduces the burden on individual nodes as the network grows. This difference in structure makes Walrus' storage cost significantly more efficient than both Arweave and Filecoin.

Programmability

Although Walrus' efficiency compared to Arweave and Filecoin is very important, its most significant difference from existing storage models is "programmability." Traditional storage is just a simple data warehouse, while Walrus realizes programmable decentralized storage through the Sui network, giving stored data more functionality.

What if smart contracts could directly reference or trigger data stored in decentralized storage? For example, when minting an NFT, an image file can be stored in Walrus, and its blob data object can be created on the Sui network, connecting it to the NFT object. This solves the problem of "incompleteness" of traditional NFTs (traditional NFTs store tokens on-chain, but the NFT's artistic metadata is stored off-chain), making NFTs through Walrus true Web3 assets.

Another example directly related to data storage is that since Walrus’ blob data can be stored as Sui objects and controlled by Sui’s Move smart contracts, smart contracts can transfer stored data to other users or automatically change ownership. This is why we say that data in Walrus is programmable.

In contrast, Arweave and Filecoin are very limited in their dynamic integration with on-chain applications, and it can even be said that it is almost impossible. Although Filecoin has added some smart contract functions through FVM (Filecoin Virtual Machine), the ability to modify and control data is still limited. Walrus is significantly superior to these two protocols in terms of programmability.

Data access and deletion

Existing storage protocols have a feature: once data is uploaded, it can be accessed by anyone and cannot be deleted. While this feature may be useful for individual users, it is extremely restrictive for institutions and enterprises that need to store sensitive data or need to modify/delete data. In contrast, Walrus allows users to discard or modify their data when needed (this is different from Arweave, where data cannot be deleted or modified; and unlike Filecoin, data deletion is not actively requested by the user, but when the contract expires or the node hosting the data goes offline, the data will be deleted).

Some people may worry that this conflicts with the immutability principle of the blockchain, but it is important to remember that in Walrus, it is the blob data that is deleted. Transaction data that is not related to the deletion of the blob data remains unchanged, and deleting the blob data does not affect the integrity of the blockchain.

Compared to traditional storage, Walrus' enhanced practicality greatly increases its application potential in traditional enterprises and Web2 enterprises, further increasing the market's expectations for its diversity.

2. Collaboration between Walrus and Sui Network

Now that we’ve discussed how Walrus differs from existing storage protocols, let’s explore the relationship between Walrus and the Sui network. When Mysten Labs announced that it was preparing to launch the Walrus protocol, many people questioned this, arguing that “they should focus on Sui instead of creating a new protocol.” However, with a little understanding of how Walrus works, it’s clear that Walrus is not a distraction from Sui, but should be seen as a storage stack designed to complement applications on Sui. In other words, Walrus not only complements the Sui network from a storage perspective, it also actively influences the Sui network’s governance token SUI, making the two inseparable. We’ll explore this further next.

Symbiotic Relationship Between Sui and Walrus

In fact, Mysten Labs paid close attention to storage issues during the early design phase of Sui. Blockchains will inevitably grow as they are used, which may lead to increased transaction fees for future Sui network users. Therefore, from the early design phase of Sui, Mysten Labs proposed a unique storage fund concept to solve Sui's storage challenges.

Beyond Filecoin? Read about Walrus, a new protocol developed by Sui team

The Sui Storage Fund works as follows: the fees that users submit to Sui Validators are divided into two parts: 1) Gas fees associated with computation, and 2) Storage fees for data storage. Sui collects storage fees in advance when users upload data and remits these funds to the Storage Fund. The Storage Foundation continues to distribute these funds to validation nodes while the data remains stored on-chain. In addition, if users delete their data, they can get a refund for the storage fees.

Sui’s unique on-chain data storage system has two effects:

Users can get a refund on storage fees when they delete on-chain data, creating an economic incentive to reduce the capacity of the distributed ledger.
The system solves the sustainability issues associated with storage by collecting storage fees upfront and using them as rewards for future validating nodes.

Although Sui solves the sustainability problem through this unique structure, storing large-scale blob data (such as media files) on the chain is still a burden. At this time, Walrus comes into play - by storing large-scale blob data through Walrus and object-managing its metadata on Sui, data can achieve programmability without being directly stored on Sui.

Beyond Filecoin? Read about Walrus, a new protocol developed by Sui team

In addition, Walrus has achieved the most distinctive feature compared to other storage protocols through Sui - making the stored data programmable and controllable. In the end, a symbiotic relationship was established between Sui and Walrus, with both parties complementing each other's shortcomings and creating unique advantages.

Walrus makes SUI a deflationary asset

From the example of the storage fund, we can see that the Sui network requires a certain amount of SUI to be paid as the storage fee for storing any object, and Walrus is no exception. When a blob data object is created in Walrus, SUI will be locked in the storage fund according to the size of the object (referring to the size of the object representing the blob, not the actual size of the blob).

Although some of the fees can be refunded by deleting the data, some of the fees will have a destruction effect, reducing the circulation by permanently removing the token. In other words, the more data is stored through Walrus, the more SUI will be permanently locked in the storage fund, forming a virtuous circle, and the increased use of Walrus leads to a decrease in the circulation of SUI.

In summary, the emergence of Walrus is positive news for the Sui network, both from a network level and an asset level. It is expected that through Walrus, the Sui ecosystem will develop in a more diversified direction.

02 Walrus will become Sui’s most critical protocol

1. More than just building a blockchain

When Mysten Labs was first founded, I thought it was just a company focused on the Sui network. However, after seeing the launch of services like Deepbook and SuiNS, I began to wonder what vision Mysten Labs was pursuing. When I met Walrus, I realized that their goal was to build a complete Web3 decentralized infrastructure.

Compared to other companies, Mysten Labs has a different time horizon when looking at this industry. They are not just issuing tokens, creating hype, and quickly monetizing; instead, they have a vision to lead innovation in various fields such as execution, storage, consensus, and communication, while understanding the user's inertia for Web2 services and creating the most suitable UI for them.

The Sui network handles execution and consensus (evolving through initiatives like Mysticeti, Pilotfish, and Remora), storage is handled by Walrus, communication is handled by SCION (a next-generation Internet architecture that protects network packets, known for its DDoS protection and immunity to routing attacks - it should be noted that SCION was not created by Mysten Labs, but it will be used in the Sui network), and the Web2-familiar UI is managed by zkLogin, Stashed, SEAL, and KELP.

If all of these initiatives are successfully implemented, I believe Mysten Labs can rewrite the existing Web3 paradigm. My initial thoughts were limited, and Mysten Labs wanted to build more than just a blockchain - they were a team building infrastructure for a new network. Of course, I think Sui is at the core of Mysten Labs' vision, and the other initiatives are all playing complementary roles. The same is true for Walrus, which in my opinion may be the most important protocol among them.

2. Walrus is not limited to the Sui ecosystem

However, Walrus is not limited 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 powerful replacement for existing storage protocols, or as an alternative to other DA layers such as Celestia, EigenDA, Avail.

This availability of Walrus extends the demand for SUI beyond the Sui network. When Walrus is used, data objects are created on the Sui network, resulting in a reduction in the circulation of SUI. In other words, Walrus has the potential to make SUI a more attractive asset by creating external demand (this is not an investment recommendation, but a structurally possible scenario). Therefore, Walrus is expected to become a bridge, expanding Sui in all directions.

3. Can Walrus surpass Filecoin?

While caution is required when comparing the value of specific protocols, I am very optimistic about the future of Walrus because: 1) its operating mechanism is far more efficient than existing storage protocols, 2) it can perform tasks that existing storage protocols cannot (such as becoming a DA or making stored data programmable), and 3) it already has a solid network and user base through the Sui network.

If Walrus is not just the storage layer of the Sui network, but becomes the representative storage protocol of Web3 as Mysten Labs envisions, it has the potential to become the leading protocol in the storage field.

Filecoin已推出AWS开源替代方案FWS

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