A common misconception in the crypto world is thinking that data on-chain equals reliable data. In reality, these are two completely different things.

Everything seems fine in everyday operation—nodes are online, API responses are quick, transactions are smooth, and everyone assumes data is secure and trustworthy. No one really verifies this. But once a problem occurs, this assumption collapses instantly. Node crashes, maintenance disappears, withdrawal delays... These moments make you realize: the existence of data and the ability to reliably access data are fundamentally two different issues.

Storing data itself isn't very difficult. Making copies, writing to the chain, staying online—many networks can do this. The problem is, this only solves convenience. The truly critical risk lies in verifiability—whether users can independently confirm the authenticity and accessibility of data.

This is especially crucial in modular system architectures. Data such as batch submissions in Rollups, state roots, proof inputs—these are originally designed to enable users to verify independently. If this key information can be arbitrarily hidden or temporarily blocked, then the so-called trustless assumption becomes meaningless.

The Walrus project directly addresses this issue. Its WAL token mechanism is not primarily about optimizing data storage efficiency but about building a mandatory verifiable access guarantee—making data accessibility no longer dependent on luck or good will, but a hard constraint of the system itself.

In small-scale phases, you might bet that the team will follow the rules. But once user numbers and data volume grow, this kind of luck-based mindset becomes a system vulnerability. True decentralization requires eliminating information asymmetry from a technical level—this is the core problem Walrus aims to solve.