Walrus and the Remaining Part of Centralization That Web3 Has Forgotten

For many years, when talking about blockchain and Web3, people often emphasize “decentralization”: decentralized money, decentralized transactions, decentralized validation. But there is an important piece that has been quietly overlooked – data. #Walrus emerges precisely from this gap, and that is also why the project is noteworthy. New Decentralization Only Achieves Half Looking back at the development process of blockchain, we see a rather “uncomfortable” truth: decentralization only stops at the transaction and financial layers. Money is stored decentralized. Transactions are validated decentralized. Consensus and voting are decentralized. But what about data? Files, metadata, images, videos, application data… mostly still reside on centralized or semi-centralized systems. This makes Web3 essentially a hybrid model: decentralized money on a centralized memory platform. This is a significant contradiction in Web3 philosophy, and @WalrusProtocol starts from this very vulnerability. See Data as Core, Not an Auxiliary Walrus is built with a completely different assumption: Data is not an add-on – data is part of the security model. If storage remains centralized, the application cannot be truly decentralized, no matter how sophisticated the consensus mechanism is. Therefore, Walrus does not “outsource” data to other storage systems but integrates storage directly into blockchain logic. This approach is more complex, more labor-intensive, but more honest to the trustless spirit of Web3. Why Sui Is More Important Than Marketing Walrus is built on Sui not because of trends, but because Sui’s architecture suits data challenges. Sui manages state as digital objects and allows parallel processing. While many traditional blockchains process transactions sequentially, Sui can handle multiple read-write operations simultaneously. With a large data storage system, this is a critical factor. Without parallelization, on-chain storage will quickly become a bottleneck. Data is Fragmented, Not Stored as a Whole Walrus does not store data in the traditional way. Instead: Data is divided into many small pieces Pieces are encrypted Each node only holds a part of the data No node has the entire file This creates three major advantages: Reduce system risk: no single point of failure. Increase attack difficulty: bad actors cannot obtain the entire data from one node. Resist censorship: no “easy target” to attack. Trust is placed not in people, but in system design. Privacy Is a Result of Architecture In Walrus, privacy is not a toggle feature but a direct consequence of the system structure. Nodes do not know: What data they are storing What the data is used for Who owns it This is an “untrusted computing” model: assuming all parties could be adversaries. Security comes from cryptography and protocols, not from the good will of operators. Privacy Always Comes at a Cost Of course, strong security also entails trade-offs: Harder to index quickly Harder to query partial data Harder to analyze metadata Some applications may not be suitable for this model and require an additional layer to optimize performance. Walrus chooses to prioritize privacy, and that is a clear, unambiguous choice. WAL Token Is a Coordination Mechanism, Not Decoration The $WAL token was not created to “show off.” It is an economic coordination tool: Storage providers must operate according to their commitments, or face penalties Users pay fees for storage Rewards, access, and governance are all linked to the token This is a self-regulating model driven by economic incentives, without a central admin. However, it also heavily depends on actual storage demand. If usage does not increase, incentives weaken. Token price volatility also affects long-term trust among node operators. This is a real risk, not just theory. Deep Integration with Sui: Power and Dependency Walrus is tightly integrated with Sui to optimize performance. This offers speed and scalability advantages but also creates dependency. If Sui undergoes major architectural changes, Walrus will be directly affected. Multi-chain protocols are more flexible but less deep. It’s a trade-off: depth versus coverage. Walrus Is an Architectural Experiment, Not a Final Solution Walrus is more of a research project than a fully finished product. It experiments with how storage can genuinely integrate into a decentralized philosophy. It exposes both advantages and friction. And that is how Web3 evolves: through experimentation, not through perfection from the start. Why Walrus Still Matters Data will become increasingly important. Applications will grow heavier. Regulations will tighten. Expectations for privacy will rise. Semi-centralized storage models will eventually break the Web3 story. Walrus forces the ecosystem to face this reality. Even if Walrus does not become dominant, its ideas will influence the design of the next generation infrastructure. Personal Perspective Walrus is not an “easy win.” Its high complexity, adoption challenges, incentive balancing, and dependency on Sui are a double-edged sword. But Walrus deserves respect for daring to attack the root of the problem, rather than patching the surface. Storage is boring… until it crashes, and then the entire system collapses. Walrus is quietly trying to fix this foundation. Whether successful or not, it pushes Web3 closer to architectural honesty. And for me, that alone is enough to keep an eye on.