The problems with the traditional internet are straightforward—when centralized servers go down, the connection is lost, platform shutdowns lead to data disappearance, and users have no control.

Have you ever thought that these issues shouldn't exist? Decentralized storage layers are designed to solve this pain point. Projects like Walrus are changing the game: using advanced erasure coding and distributed blob storage to split large files across a global network of nodes, ensuring data is never lost, censorship-resistant, efficient, and low-cost.

Compare the costs—what are the expenses for traditional cloud storage solutions (like AWS, Google Cloud)? Walrus costs only a fraction of that, with even higher reliability. Once data is uploaded, it is stored permanently, with no ongoing renewal fees, and it won't crash due to a single point of failure. This is a lifesaver for AI applications, content storage, NFTs, and gaming assets.

Why will this solution be especially popular in 2026? Two core driving forces:

**First is the real demand driven by the AI wave.** Model training, media files, and the operation of intelligent agents all require handling large files. Support for TB-sized blobs, fast read speeds, and low gas costs—these are exactly the advantages of decentralized storage. The underlying architecture uses parallel execution and low-latency design, ensuring speed is never compromised.

**Second is that privacy protection has become a hard requirement.** Programmable privacy mechanisms allow developers to implement access controls through tools, so data no longer sits on centralized servers and gets tampered with. Truly returning data sovereignty to users.

The lifeblood of the entire ecosystem is the token $WAL, which builds an incentive mechanism to involve global nodes in storage and retrieval, creating a self-sustaining cycle.