Dusk Network has recently taken new steps as a Layer 1 chain. Since its launch in 2018, the project has finally delivered its first performance report during the mainnet phase — the first immutable blocks have been produced, which means the entire privacy-preserving and auditable financial infrastructure has truly entered the production stage.

Simply put, this system is specifically designed for institutions. It uses zero-knowledge proofs internally to handle sensitive data. By default, financial information is encrypted, but regulators can selectively decrypt when needed. This logic fully complies with strict regulatory frameworks like the EU’s MiCA.

The most interesting partnership is with the Dutch exchange NPEX. NPEX is a platform regulated by AFM, which has provided over €200 million in financing to hundreds of SMEs. Now, they want to bring this model onto the blockchain: issuing, trading, and settling SME equity and bonds directly on-chain. The target scale already points to hundreds of millions of euros.

This is not just a technical showcase but a real example of integrating traditional finance with blockchain. Equity transactions that previously required cumbersome clearing processes can now be settled atomically on-chain, completing in one go without friction or loss. Companies save costs, and regulators can maintain the necessary control.

From a developer’s perspective, Dusk’s modular architecture lowers the entry barrier. DuskEVM supports Solidity contracts, allowing existing DeFi logic to be migrated directly; for high-performance privacy applications, a native Rust environment is always ready. The development friendliness is maximized.