There is an interesting thing called Walrus in the Sui ecosystem, which has recently become a new hotspot for on-chain private storage. This protocol is directly built on the Sui blockchain and essentially is a decentralized storage system that uses advanced privacy technology to lock up large amounts of data. It sounds very much in line with Sui's official plan for 2026—to truly achieve native private transactions.

How does it work? Walrus employs a combination of erasure coding, sealing, and encryption. Simply put, it slices your data into encrypted fragments and disperses them across different nodes. Sui's proof mechanism ensures the legitimacy of operations, allowing users to access their data without exposing anything.

The WAL token supports the entire system. To run a privacy node, you need to stake WAL, pay for encrypted storage, and you can also participate in voting for new features. When Sui’s privacy upgrades are fully implemented, DeFi applications will be able to store users’ investment portfolios as sealed data blocks within Walrus. Smart contracts can directly reference these data blocks to perform private operations like lending. All computations are handled in the background, fully confidential, with final settlement still on the Sui chain.

This solution provides users with a confidential data system, unlocking secure AI and financial applications, even under tighter regulatory environments. Of course, encryption will introduce some latency costs, which still fall short compared to fully open systems.