By 2026, the tokenization of real-world assets is no longer just a conceptual game; various public blockchains are actively vying for the infrastructure dominance. However, in this fierce competition, Dusk Network stands out as somewhat special — since 2018, it has established the banner of "compliant and privacy-preserving financial infrastructure," which has built a moat that competitors will find difficult to match in the short term.

What is the cleverness of this moat? Simply put, it solves a long-standing dilemma faced by traditional financial institutions.

Financial institutions have a demand for blockchain technology, but that demand itself is contradictory. They want transparent and efficient clearing capabilities, but do not want trading strategies and customer data to become public information, while also needing to meet strict anti-money laundering and securities regulation requirements. Most transparent blockchains cannot provide privacy protection, while privacy-focused chains often struggle to pass compliance audits. Dusk’s Hedger component is different — through a combination of zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption, it achieves a seemingly contradictory balance: data is encrypted externally, but authorized regulators can audit it. This allows institutions to enjoy both privacy and compliance without having to choose between the two.

More practically, Dusk is not just talk. Its flagship project, DuskTrade, is partnered with the Dutch NPEX exchange, which itself holds multiple EU financial licenses, including a multilateral trading facility (MTF) and broker licenses. This level of cooperation precisely demonstrates the feasibility of the technical solution in real financial scenarios.