Recently, the most discussed topic in the crypto world remains Bitcoin's market performance, but a relatively low-profile project is working on something with great potential — moving hundreds of millions of euros worth of bonds and stocks from traditional finance onto the blockchain. This project is called Dusk Network, and its token is DUSK. It doesn't have a get-rich-quick story, but it targets the largest incremental market in the crypto space: enabling regulated large institutions to confidently participate.

**Its positioning is very clear: a privacy-focused public chain built for the mainstream**

Traditional financial institutions face a dilemma. On one hand, they see the settlement efficiency of blockchain positively; on the other hand, they fear that transaction details on a public chain would be fully transparent — which would be disastrous for any institution engaging in large-volume trades. Even more challenging is the need to meet regulatory requirements like KYC and anti-money laundering, but existing public chain designs struggle to balance privacy and compliance.

Dusk’s solution is to use cryptographic techniques like zero-knowledge proofs to encrypt transaction information, so that business strategies and position data between institutions are no longer exposed. But this "lock" isn't completely unbreakable — regulatory authorities hold special verification permissions, allowing them to review transaction details in a compliant manner when necessary. This can be seen as a feasible solution to the deadlock of "privacy versus compliance."

**Key progress expected by 2026**

This year, Dusk has shifted from purely technical development to real-world application, with two core actions particularly worth noting:

First is the launch of DuskEVM mainnet. Fully compatible with the Ethereum ecosystem’s virtual machine, it allows existing DeFi applications to migrate directly, while inheriting Dusk’s privacy features. This means developers won’t need to learn a new system from scratch, significantly lowering the barrier to ecosystem expansion.

Second is the gradual pilot of institutional-grade applications. Dusk has already achieved preliminary results in bond tokenization tests conducted under the European financial regulatory framework, with several European financial institutions evaluating the usability of this solution. If progress continues smoothly, this could become one of the first successful cases of blockchain truly serving traditional finance.

Compared to projects that only make big promises, Dusk is taking a grounded approach. It has the technology, regulatory cooperation, and institutional interest. The key now is whether it can connect these points into a viable business model.