a16z backed Walrus Protocol to be listed on Gate.io and KuCoin, what is WAL?

Gate.io, KuCoin, and MEXC are set to list Walrus’s WAL token later today, following its mainnet launch and token generation event.

According to a recent official announcement, crypto exchange Gate.io will list Walrus (WAL) for spot trading against USDT on March 27 at 10:00 AM UTC. The token will be available exclusively on the Sui network.

While users can already make deposits, withdrawals will be available starting at 10:00 AM UTC on March 28, 2025. From March 27 to April 8, users can also stake their tokens to earn additional WAL every hour, based on the proportion of assets they have staked, from a total airdrop pool of 200,000 WAL tokens.

The listing on Gate.io will follow the Token Generation Event for the WAL token, which is also scheduled for today. The TGE coincides with the launch of the Walrus mainnet, which will allow users to utilize WAL tokens within the Walrus ecosystem. 

The public testnet for the Walrus Protocol was launched in October last year.

While the launch price remains unclear at press time, WAL will also be listed on other major exchanges, including KuCoin, MEXC, Bitget, and Bithumb, concurrently with the Gate.io launch.

Meanwhile, tokenomics reveals that WAL will have a maximum supply of 5 billion tokens. Over 60% of that supply is going straight to the community to help bootstrap adoption and growth. This includes 10% for airdrops to early users, 43% reserved for grants, developer support, and incentive programs, with the rest set aside as subsidies for storage node operators.

The rest of the allocation includes 30% for core contributors and 7% for early investors who backed the project during fundraising.

With no vesting on airdropped tokens, WAL’s launch could see early volatility as recipients take profits.

What is Walrus Protocol?

Developed by Mysten Labs, Walrus is a decentralized storage and data availability protocol on the Sui blockchain focused on large binary objects—also known as blobs. It aims to tackle challenges around scalability, cost, and fault tolerance for decentralized storage networks.

Backed by heavyweights like a16z crypto, Electric Capital, and Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, Walrus recently raised $140 million in a funding round led by Standard Crypto.

Walrus is built to offer a blob storage layer optimised for decentralised applications. It works by distributing data across a global network of nodes, each competing for stake from users. This system improves resilience and cost-efficiency while ensuring high availability for storing large, unstructured files, ideal for use cases like NFTs, decentralized social media, and AI datasets.

The WAL token serves several roles within the ecosystem. It’s used to pay for storage, secure the network through staking, and participate in protocol governance. Users can delegate WAL to node operators to earn rewards or vote on changes to the network.