The world of privacy coins is being rewritten.

Monero has disappeared from exchanges, and Zcash has become a neglected veteran, but a project called DUSK has surged 580% in 30 days. It is doing something crazy — moving 300 million euros worth of Dutch stocks onto the blockchain.

2026 is destined to be a year of division. The sentimentalists still promote "privacy as human rights," but the real world has long changed the rules. The EU’s MiCA regulatory framework has officially come into effect, and there is only one ironclad rule: all assets must be auditable and traceable.

And so, the tragedy unfolds. XMR was delisted by major exchanges for "inability to prove innocence," becoming a currency for the dark web. ZEC’s so-called "optional privacy" is seen as an "uncontrollable risk" by institutional risk control, and mainstream finance has completely shut out these projects. What about those new ZK projects shouting "resist all regulation"? No matter how radical their Twitter narratives, no reputable institution dares to put real assets into them.

The core issue is not technical; it’s attitude. The old generation of privacy coins is fighting regulation, but the new era requires dancing with regulation.

DUSK’s breakthrough is actually very simple: default privacy, but provable at any time.

From the user’s perspective: your transaction amount, counterparty, and strategy are all hidden, and business secrets are no longer exposed on the chain. From the regulator’s perspective: using zero-knowledge proof technology, you only need to answer "yes" or "no" — proving that the source of funds is legal and not involved in money laundering, without revealing transaction logic and profit structure.

This is called "auditable privacy." In the financial world, this is not a compromise; it’s a passport.