2026-01-08 20:25:49

The privacy track has remained hot over the past six months, with ZEC's independent market igniting the entire sector. However, to be honest, most of the new privacy projects are fleeting, with TGE being the final chapter. Veteran players like Monero have also paid the price for overemphasizing privacy—many exchanges have directly delisted them.

Interestingly, last year, an established privacy public chain quietly made a comeback—Dusk. Its performance in 2025 is definitely worth paying attention to.

The core shift is from a single-chain to a modular architecture. This iteration particularly emphasizes balancing privacy and compliance. Let’s take a look at what has been done over the past year.

In January 2025, the DuskDS mainnet officially launched, marking a key milestone in the project's settlement layer. The significance lies in opening a new direction—an ecosystem of privacy + compliance for RWA and DeFi.

Throughout the first half of the year, the project team was busy. The network underwent multiple upgrades and iterations, gradually evolving into a true modular design. At the same time, the DuskEVM testnet was introduced, allowing developers to use standard Solidity tools, with optional privacy features. Additionally, the Hedger Alpha version began public testing, introducing an interesting feature—confidential transactions, where user balances and transaction amounts are encrypted, yet on-chain auditability is maintained, making it both private and compliant.

From mid-year to the end of the year, the ecosystem accelerated. A staking platform was prepared for launch, providing participation opportunities for users without nodes. The community DEX also roughly kept pace.

In December, the Sozu mainnet was launched, becoming the infrastructure foundation of the Dusk DeFi ecosystem. Users can now stake directly to earn rewards, with a relatively smooth experience.

Overall, Dusk’s approach this year has been very clear—it's not just about pursuing privacy metrics but finding a balance between privacy and compliance, while building out the ecosystem. Judging by the frequency of technical iterations, the project is definitely serious.

ZEC2,85%

DUSK1,47%

RWA-2,68%

DEFI2,37%

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MEVHunter

· 5h ago

ngl dusk actually playing 4d chess while everyone else chasing privacy theater... that compliance angle? that's the real arbitrage play nobody's frontrunning yet

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RiddleMaster

· 11h ago

Hmm, Dusk really has something this time, it's not just pure privacy anymore. The idea of balancing privacy + compliance is indeed advanced, much more reliable than those projects that just hide and seek. Modular architecture paired with DuskEVM? Looks like they want to grab a piece of the Solidity ecosystem. Confidential transactions with on-chain audits—this move is interesting, and regulation won't be so difficult either. With so many actions throughout the year, if the ecosystem can truly stabilize, a comeback is possible. But still, let's keep an eye on it. Many privacy projects have failed before, so we'll see once the ecosystem really gets going.

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BlockBargainHunter

· 01-10 07:40

Privacy + compliance truly addresses the pain points, making it much more reliable than projects that just hide and seek. I also watched the delisting of Monero, and it felt like an extreme move. Dusk's approach is quite good, from modularization to the Sozu ecosystem, their actions are indeed solid. But to be honest, can staking yields hold up... I'm just worried that it's flashy in the beginning but no one will play with it later. Cases of old projects making a comeback are rare, so it's worth keeping an eye on.

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HashBard

· 01-08 20:55

honestly dusk's playing the long game while everyone else chasing quick flips... respectable arc tbh

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LiquidationWatcher

· 01-08 20:54

Dusk is indeed working seriously this time, unlike those projects that fail after TGE. The balance between privacy and compliance is handled pretty well, so it won't be forcibly delisted by exchanges. Staking and DEX are both catching up, and the ecosystem is definitely expanding. But it still depends on how the adoption rate develops later on.

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BearWhisperGod

· 01-08 20:52

Privacy + compliance is indeed a difficult balance to strike. Dusk's recent moves are somewhat impressive. Honestly, if it weren't for the intense iterations, I might have some doubts, after all, the privacy coin track is full of pitfalls.

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MissedTheBoat

· 01-08 20:52

Now I finally understand, the way out for privacy coins is right here. The delisting of Monero was, frankly, too rigid. Dusk's recent move is really good; the idea of privacy + compliance is clever. But regarding staking, how are the yields, everyone?

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CommunityWorker

· 01-08 20:30

The delisting of Monero was indeed a deep lesson; privacy and compliance are truly not mutually exclusive. Dusk's approach is still somewhat interesting. However, in terms of modular architecture, many in the industry talk about it, but few do it well. Let's wait and see if the subsequent ecosystem develops. Whether the TVL of the staking platform can surpass one million after launch will be the real test.

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UncommonNPC

· 01-08 20:26

Dusk's recent moves are indeed impressive; compared to projects that just do a TGE and call it a day, it's much more reliable. Privacy + compliance is the right way to go; otherwise, it could end up like the fate of Monero. I didn't follow up on the Sozu launch, so I need to catch up. With such a high iteration frequency... it really doesn't seem like a scam.

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