2026-01-20 05:25:34

The DeFi world is constantly evolving. Bonding, NFT fragmentation, RWA—each asset class is seeking its own financial expression. But there is a trillion-level infrastructure asset that has been overlooked: data storage capacity.

Filecoin once tried to financialize storage with "Proof of Spacetime," but it mainly became collateral for mining, and the derivatives ecosystem never took off. The reason is simple: storage is too "hard," too physical, and doesn't fit well with the Lego-like modular approach of DeFi.

Until Walrus appeared. Its "programmable data objects" and native integration with Sui gave me a breakthrough. In that moment, a crazy idea became clear: the storage space and services on Walrus could become a new core asset class in DeFi—a bottom-layer asset capable of generating stable cash flow, leading to the emergence of a completely new financial ecosystem.

Imagine a "money market," "bond market," or even "derivatives market" for storage. This time, I won't discuss the intrinsic application value of storage itself, but from a financial engineering perspective, how Walrus can deeply integrate with DeFi.

The first step is crucial: paradigm shift. Traditional cloud storage is a cost for users and a heavy asset for businesses. But through tokenization and on-chainization, Walrus transforms it into—cash flow assets.

FIL0,22%

WAL-2,71%

SUI-1,68%

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GhostAddressMiner

· 01-20 05:55

Storage finance sounds wild, but I always feel that some data lines don't match up in Walrus's logic... The lessons from Filecoin are still so recent. Assets that can truly generate stable cash flow depend on who is hoarding, how much they are hoarding, and which original addresses are flowing to exchanges — these are the key signals.

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PrivacyMaximalist

· 01-20 05:55

Storage has always been an invisible heavy asset. Can Walrus really do what Filecoin couldn't? I'm a bit hopeful but also a bit skeptical.

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StealthDeployer

· 01-20 05:55

Walrus might really be able to solve Filecoin's longstanding issues this time; the financialization of storage is finally looking promising.

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BridgeNomad

· 01-20 05:42

ngl, filecoin tried this dance already and we all know how that ended... storage derivatives never materialized. walrus + sui integration sounds slick on paper, but where's the actual liquidity depth here? feels like another "programmable assets" narrative before we even stress-tested the primitives. show me the tvl metrics first

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BearMarketLightning

· 01-20 05:38

The lessons from Filecoin are there; can Walrus really break through... It still seems that it depends on the ecosystem truly getting off the ground.

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PumpAnalyst

· 01-20 05:28

Here's another story about financial engineering, just listen and don't get on board, brothers. If Filecoin couldn't make it work, what makes Walrus think it can? Honestly, someone still has to take the risk. Why does storage generate cash flow? I haven't figured out this logic yet, let's talk about it later. I'm already tired of the narrative from project teams, here's a risk warning. Walrus is tied to Sui, it feels like just riding the hype, don't trust those breakthroughs. The financialization of storage sounds romantic, but in reality, it's full of pitfalls. This time, it all depends on how the big players spin the story. Are the retail investors ready? Concept hype outweighs practical application, that's my judgment. It's indeed too early to enter now, but there's some room for a rebound... we'll see how it goes. If the support level breaks, don't hold on anymore; the technicals are already looking bad.

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