As the decentralized storage sector continues to evolve rapidly, major cryptocurrency investors have placed a significant wager on a promising newcomer, with Walrus Foundation raising an impressive $140 million through a private token sale.
The investment round, led by Standard Crypto, saw participation from industry heavyweights including Andreessen Horowitz, Electric Capital, and Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, valuing the total supply of Walrus tokens at $2 billion.
Developed by Mysten Labs, the team behind the Sui blockchain, Walrus operates on a delegated proof-of-stake mechanism that enables efficient operation of storage nodes while preventing Sybil attacks.
The protocol, built on the Sui layer-1 blockchain, utilizes Move-based smart contracts to offer programmable data management capabilities, setting it apart from existing competitors in the decentralized storage ecosystem.
Unlike established platforms like Filecoin and Arweave, which primarily focus on archival storage solutions, Walrus aims to support real-time web applications with improved speed and affordability.
The platform’s architecture facilitates both on-chain and off-chain data management, making it particularly suitable for handling rich media types such as images and videos, a critical requirement for modern web applications.
The economic model underpinning Walrus involves a total supply of 5 billion WAL tokens, with an initial circulating supply of 1.25 billion.
Importantly, 60% of these tokens will be allocated to the community, with initial token releases scheduled for March coinciding with the mainnet launch planned for March 27, 2025.
A web-hosting service has already been built on Walrus during its beta phase, demonstrating the protocol’s practical applications.
The $140 million funding will improve the development of Walrus’s decentralized storage protocol, potentially disrupting existing market dynamics in response to growing demand for decentralized storage solutions driven by advancements in AI and gaming applications.
The fundraising round demonstrated exceptional investor enthusiasm, closing in just three weeks and reflecting the market’s strong interest in next-generation decentralized infrastructure.
As cross-chain compatibility remains a key focus, Walrus positions itself as an integrative solution within the broader blockchain ecosystem.
The company is led by CEO Evan Cheng, whose team focuses on creating innovative high-speed storage solutions that could transform data-intensive industries.
Similar to Layer-2 solutions, the Walrus protocol aims to reduce congestion while increasing throughput for decentralized applications that rely heavily on data storage.
