Blockchain networks that host files aren’t new. Filecoin, Arweave, and a handful of others promise a Google Cloud-like product, where users can store and retrieve gigabytes of information. Now, though, a project called the Walrus protocol believes it can build a superior version of these decentralized storage networks—and some prominent investors are betting they're right.
On Thursday, Walrus Foundation, one of the core entities behind the protocol, announced that it had raised $140 million in a sale of the blockchain’s cryptocurrency, whose ticker is $WAL. The largest investor was Standard Crypto. Other top investors who bought allocations of the yet-to-be-launched cryptocurrency include Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm, Electric Capital, and Franklin Templeton Digital Assets. The sale valued the total supply of the Walrus protocol’s cryptocurrency at $2 billion.
