Effective immediately, Rebecca Simmonds has been appointed to the position of Managing Executive at Walrus Foundation by its board of directors. As Managing Executive, Ms. Simmonds will oversee day-to-day operations, provide strategic leadership, and drive growth for the Walrus ecosystem.

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The Walrus Foundation operates as a core contributor to the Walrus Protocol, which launched its Testnet in October of 2024. Walrus is a decentralized storage network that stores and delivers large data files, including rich media content, audio files, video, images, and PDFs, from any Web2 or Web3-based source. These large files, known as blobs, are stored quickly and efficiently by Walrus, whose storage is resilient, scalable, programmable, and secure. Walrus’s public Testnet, and its forthcoming Mainnet, are served by Sui as the coordination layer. The original contributor to Walrus is Mysten Labs, a core member of the Sui ecosystem and the leading infrastructure builder of the decentralized internet.

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The advent of Walrus comes at a time when blockchains and app builders need onchain storage solutions to realize their full potential. Simultaneously, Web2 applications are exploring decentralized storage options, but are finding that existing decentralized storage offerings are falling short of their expectations. Walrus's original contributors have devised innovative technical solutions that deliver a high-performance, resilient network. Thanks to leveraging Sui, Walrus offers unique Web3-native benefits as a fully programmable data platform.

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Ms. Simmonds brings a plethora of experience as part of the founding team for Vega Protocol, making her a key addition to the organization working towards the innovation and advancement of the Walrus Foundation. Her leadership arrives at a pivotal moment when the ecosystem is poised for rapid expansion, and the protocol is demonstrating its potential to revolutionize decentralized storage solutions. With her background in scaling blockchain projects and fostering developer communities, Ms. Simmonds is uniquely equipped to guide the next phase of the protocol’s growth and adoption.

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“With Walrus Mainnet on the horizon, I am amazed at the momentum and tremendous progress already achieved during the protocol’s Testnet phase,” said Rebecca Simmonds, Managing Executive of the Walrus Foundation. “I’m eager to bring my experience in blockchain scalability and community development to drive the growth of the Walrus ecosystem. I look forward to contributing to the protocol’s mission and shaping the future of decentralized data storage.”