Question 1

What is WAL?

Accepted Answer

WAL is the native token of the Walrus decentralized storage network. Walrus runs on Sui, and WAL is used on the network to pay for storage and to delegate stake to storage nodes; it is not a valueless test token on the testnet. These two uses form the same economic flow: users purchase storage services with WAL, and the fees are then distributed over the storage period according to node performance; holders can also delegate WAL to nodes, causing a node's stake size to participate in committee and shard allocation, and share, according to the rules, part of the storage-fee rewards earned by that node.

Question 2

Why are both WAL and SUI needed to use Walrus?

Accepted Answer

Using Walrus generally requires both WAL and SUI, but they do not pay for the same type of cost. WAL is used for storage fees and write fees; SUI is used for the Gas of transactions on the Sui chain that register, certify, or extend a blob. For example, purchasing storage consumes WAL, while submitting the transaction that makes that storage effective on Sui still requires SUI. Therefore, preparing only WAL does not necessarily allow all operations to be completed; conversely, SUI Gas cannot replace the WAL storage and write fees due.

Question 3

How do WAL storage fees flow?

Accepted Answer

After a user purchases storage, the WAL paid enters the storage fund rather than being directly paid to a particular node as a one-time payment. The storage fund holds this WAL over the blob's storage period and distributes it to nodes at the end of each storage epoch. The amount a node receives depends on its measurable performance, which the network evaluates through lightweight audits among nodes. Nodes then share part of the storage-fee rewards they receive with delegators according to their rules. Therefore, the source of delegation rewards is the storage fees received by the node; poorer node performance first reduces the amount received by the node, then affects the delegator's reward share.

Question 4

Can I participate in WAL staking without running a node?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Walrus uses a WAL delegated proof-of-stake mechanism, under which holders can delegate WAL to storage nodes without running a node themselves. The shards a node receives in each storage epoch are approximately proportional to the size of stake delegated to that node; delegators share part of the storage fees collected by that node. Delegation does not make a token holder a node operator. Nodes are responsible for providing storage services and undergoing performance evaluation, while delegators are responsible for selecting nodes and following delegation timing rules. Poor node performance reduces rewards, but the official documentation states that when a node is penalized, what is destroyed is the operator's accrued commission, not the delegator's WAL principal.

Question 5

Do delegation or undelegation take effect immediately?

Accepted Answer

Delegating, undelegating, and switching nodes do not immediately change the current committee. To allow time for shard migration, the committee for an epoch is determined in advance at the midpoint of the preceding epoch. If you want your stake to affect the committee for epoch e, you must complete staking before the midpoint of epoch e−1; if you miss that point, the stake will generally first take effect only in epoch e+1. Undelegation follows the same boundary: if submitted before that midpoint, the stake stops earning rewards at the start of epoch e; if submitted after the midpoint, it remains active and accrues rewards during epoch e, and the balance becomes available only at the start of epoch e+1. Switching nodes requires first undelegating from the original node and then delegating to the new node, so it should likewise be arranged around epoch boundaries.

Question 6

Does Walrus burn WAL?

Accepted Answer

Walrus has protocol-level WAL burning, but storing or deleting data itself does not directly burn all WAL paid by the user. At the end of each epoch, before rewards are distributed, the system first burns 3% of the total rewards for that period and then distributes the remainder to nodes and their delegators. Deleting a blob does not return the WAL already paid, nor does it burn WAL as a result. Another easily confused operation is destroying the Sui object corresponding to a blob: this handles the object on Sui and the related storage rebate, but does not delete the blob data in Walrus or change the WAL already paid.

Question 7

What is FROST?

Accepted Answer

FROST is the smallest indivisible unit of WAL: 1 WAL equals 1,000,000,000 FROST. On-chain contracts, command-line tools, or interfaces may use FROST to display raw amounts. Therefore, when seeing a large integer, first determine its unit: if the value is expressed in FROST, it must be divided by 1 billion to obtain the corresponding amount of WAL. This conversion changes only the display denomination; it does not change the asset amount or its economic meaning.

Question 8

How is Walrus storage pricing calculated?

Accepted Answer

Walrus expresses storage pricing in a U.S.-dollar denomination and charges payment in WAL. The target price stated in the official documentation is US$0.023 per GB per month; the actual amount of WAL deducted adjusts with the price of WAL. This design separates the pricing benchmark for storage services from WAL's market price: for the same GB·month, the dollar denomination remains stable, while the required amount of WAL is adjusted with price changes through on-chain price voting. In addition to storage fees, on-chain Sui transactions for registering or managing blobs still require separate SUI Gas.

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