The Walrus protocol has explored an interesting technical route in the DeFi space. It is based on the WAL token as the economic foundation, with core innovation focused on its privacy transaction engine.

This engine relies on homomorphic encryption and ring signature technology at its core. Simply put, all transaction data is encrypted— the network can verify that your transaction is valid, but sensitive information such as transaction amounts and participants are completely hidden. This design directly addresses the classic issues faced by blockchains: a public ledger that needs to be tamper-proof but also easily analyzable and traceable on-chain. Walrus's solution finds a balance between privacy and verification.

The choice to deploy on the Sui blockchain is also very deliberate. Sui’s object-centric storage architecture is optimized for parallel processing, resulting in higher data throughput compared to traditional account models. Coupled with Move’s built-in type safety mechanisms, the risk of smart contract vulnerabilities is significantly reduced— a critical factor for financial applications.

In this system, the WAL token plays multiple roles. It is used to pay for network transaction fees and also serves as a proof of stake token. Users staking WAL can become network validators, participate in consensus, and earn annualized rewards. From the network’s perspective, this design aligns participants’ incentives with network security— validators earn rewards while also strengthening the network’s resistance to attacks.

From a technical stack perspective, Walrus’s integrated solution reflects a balanced consideration of privacy, performance, and security in current DeFi projects. Whether it’s worth paying attention to depends mainly on whether the actual application scenarios can be successfully implemented.