From privacy protection to regulatory compliance, this path is clearer than most public chains.

Founded in 2018, Dusk focuses on a pain point that others tend to overlook: the real needs of institutional finance for blockchain. It’s not about the fastest TPS or the lowest Gas fees, but about how to handle sensitive transaction data on-chain, ensuring transparency for external audits while protecting business secrets.

Its answer is zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption—technologies that sound hardcore but are practically applied. Simply put, transaction amounts and addresses are hidden on-chain, but regulators can verify authenticity at any time. This "controllable privacy" design makes banks and asset management firms feel for the first time that blockchain might really be usable.

The DuskEVM mainnet launched in the second week of January further advances this approach. Developers can write smart contracts in Solidity, familiar to them, but all settlements are completed on Dusk’s Layer 1—privacy features are automatically inherited without additional adaptation. The Hedger protocol acts as middleware, hiding transaction details in the EVM environment while allowing authorized parties to verify at any time. The EU’s MiCA and MiFID II regulations are quite compatible with this scheme.

A more tangible implementation comes from the DuskTrade application. It partners with the licensed Dutch exchange NPEX, planning to bring over €300 million worth of tokenized securities onto the chain—including traditional assets like stocks and bonds. Qualified investors can complete on-chain trading and settlement under privacy protection, improving efficiency without any compliance worries.

This pragmatic approach will be especially attractive in 2026. As regulatory environments tighten and institutions place unprecedented importance on risk and compliance, Dusk’s focus on institutional pain points has attracted increasing attention from banks, asset managers, and exchanges.

Next, more privacy-focused DeFi protocols and enterprise-grade applications will emerge on this chain. The integration of blockchain with traditional finance may begin with this "calm" privacy + compliance solution.