2025 is indeed a turning point for Walrus Protocol.

From the spring when the mainnet officially launched as a core infrastructure of the Sui ecosystem, to the winter when the entire ecosystem blossomed with projects and capital institutions flocked in, this player in the decentralized storage track spent a whole year transforming the competitive landscape through continuous technological iterations and practical applications. Essentially, they are practicing the philosophy of "putting data back into the hands of users."

The technical developments have been particularly intensive. The launch of the privacy access control feature Seal addresses many long-standing issues—how to protect sensitive data during large-scale blockchain application explosions. Developers can now encrypt data and precisely specify who can access it, which is a must-have for high-privacy scenarios like finance and healthcare. They claim this is the first decentralized data platform with built-in access control, and in practical applications, it indeed fills a gap.

Another noteworthy detail is Quilt, the batch storage solution. It can pack up to 660 small files into a single storage unit, directly saving partners over 3 million WAL tokens. This solves the long-standing inefficiency problem of small files in decentralized storage—not just a theoretical optimization, but a real cost reduction.

User experience is also rapidly improving. Upload Relay and the new TypeScript SDK streamline complex underlying logic, boosting data upload speeds by 3 to 5 times and reducing developer integration costs by 70%. What does this mean? Lower entry barriers and the gradual realization of Web2-style user experience standards in decentralized storage.

Market reactions are also very clear. When Grayscale launched related products in June, institutional interest surged, and the number of ecosystem participants and projects accelerated. This is not a minor matter; the entire track is being redefined.