Walrus mainnet has been stably operating through multiple storage cycles, and now we can see some real economic data.

Let's start with a few key figures. The system is set to approximately 14 days per storage cycle, and a single epoch can store data for 53 cycles. This allows users to prepay for multi-cycle storage resources without being bound by the cost of a single cycle. Currently, there are 103 storage nodes running in the network, representing genuine diversity in storage resources. The maximum size of a single blob can reach 13.6 GiB, which is a large number for chain storage—meaning large media files, AI model weights, high-definition NFT data, and similar content can be directly stored on-chain without fragmentation.

Now, let's look at the cost structure. In the early stage of the mainnet, the pricing is 0.0001 WAL per unit of storage, with an additional fee of 20,000 Frost for each write operation. These specific figures demonstrate that Walrus is not just a conceptual protocol but has a complete cost model and payment mechanism.

Technically, Walrus is built on the Sui chain as a programmable storage layer, where storage space itself is on-chain resource. These resources can be split, merged, or transferred via smart contracts, circulating within the ecosystem like special assets. When users register a blob ID, Sui emits an event, which storage nodes listen to. After completing storage, nodes sign a certificate of availability for the user. Once the certificate is verified, an on-chain event is triggered to confirm that the blob is truly accessible within the specified cycle.

Regarding data redundancy, Walrus uses RedStuff encoding to split blobs into slivers distributed across different nodes, significantly reducing storage overhead compared to traditional replication methods. Even if a large number of shards are lost, the system can recover the original file, demonstrating strong fault tolerance.

Therefore, Walrus storage is not simply about attaching files to the chain. It is a storage network supported by on-chain events, with transparent and verifiable costs, and a clear economic model.