Have you ever thought about the contradictions present in most Web3 applications today? Front-end and smart contracts both claim to be decentralized and on-chain, yet the critical data generated by users—images, videos, code—still reside on servers like Amazon or Google. How can this be called decentralization? Frankly, it’s just surface-level talk.

Truly moving all data onto the chain? The costs are exorbitant. The transaction fees alone are enough to discourage anyone. This contradiction is precisely the fundamental reason why the Walrus protocol has recently garnered such significant attention.

I recently delved into Walrus’s technical documentation, and the most shocking aspect to me is its capability for large file storage. Imagine storing hundreds of MB of videos on-chain in the past? That was only feasible for the wealthy and powerful. But Walrus, through its own encoding scheme, has directly reduced storage costs to a level affordable for ordinary users. What does this mean? We might actually see the emergence of fully decentralized video platforms—and no longer have to worry about centralized servers crashing and causing content loss.

At this point, the value of the ecosystem token becomes evident. It’s not just an investment asset but the engine driving the entire system. Node operators, in pursuit of profits, will compete to provide better bandwidth and storage; users, seeking stable and efficient services, are willing to hold and spend this token. A virtuous cycle is thus formed. Compared to projects that simply issue tokens and call it a day, this type of protocol clearly considers the application scenarios and the logic of value flow beforehand.