The evolution of blockchain infrastructure is accelerating. We are witnessing the industry shift its focus from solving the "data availability" problem to gradually upgrading to pursue "data verifiability" and "computational verifiability" — in simple terms, not only making data accessible but also confirming that the data has not been tampered with and that the computations are correct at extremely low trust costs.

Currently, data layer solutions mainly focus on DA (Data Availability), ensuring that information can be stored and retrieved. But is this enough for DeFi protocols and asset management tools? Clearly not. They also need to trust the integrity of data providers and verify that complex calculations based on this data — such as risk assessments and yield optimizations — are indeed correct. The problem is, this kind of trust usually relies on high economic collateral or the reputation of a centralized institution, which is costly.

This is why the Walrus protocol has attracted so much attention. Its ambition is not to reinvent the wheel but to deeply integrate zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology into the data and computation layers. This introduces two fundamentally different aspects: first, data sources and processing workflows can be cryptographically proven; second, the correctness of computations no longer depends on centralized endorsements but is verified mathematically. This is a paradigm shift. Leading exchanges and mainstream platforms are beginning to pay attention to such solutions, reflecting the market’s genuine demand for high-verifiability data layers.

In simple terms, blockchain data infrastructure is evolving from "I guarantee the data exists" to "I can mathematically prove the data is authentic and the computations are correct." This change not only affects the technology stack but also transforms the entire trust model.