As the EU's (distributed ledger technology pilot regime) is fully implemented in 2025, the Dusk Foundation, a public blockchain protocol focused on regulatory compliance, is strategically positioning itself through its ecosystem fund to seize early opportunities in the RWA (real-world assets) space. The 15 million DUSK ecosystem fund (approximately $9.88 million) established at the beginning of this year has entered its phased disbursement phase, with initial funds primarily allocated to archival node and validator infrastructure, bidirectional cross-chain bridges, and decentralized exchanges—three core areas. This strategy directly addresses current pain points in compliant asset tokenization: traditional financial institutions require blockchain infrastructure that meets regulatory standards such as MiFID II while also ensuring privacy protection. Dusk's 'programmable compliance' feature, enabled by zero-knowledge proof technology, precisely fills this market gap.
From a technical architecture standpoint, Dusk's Byzantine consensus mechanism (SBA) innovatively integrates privacy and compliance. Its confidential smart contract (XSC) standard enables developers to perform compliance checks on-chain without exposing sensitive data. For example, institutional users can leverage the Phoenix trading model to keep transaction information confidential while still meeting the audit requirements of the EU's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II). This technical advantage has already attracted real-world financial applications, such as Dusk's collaboration with the Netherlands' multilateral trading facility NPEX, where it is assisting in securities tokenization and establishing a secondary market—initially expected to bring €30 million in on-chain assets.
The first round of funded projects under the ecosystem fund reflects strategic focus. Enhancing archival node infrastructure will improve on-chain historical data query efficiency, which is critical for traditional financial institutions requiring continuous compliance reporting; meanwhile, bidirectional cross-chain bridges developed with Ethereum and BNB Chain will unlock liquidity channels between the Dusk ecosystem and mainstream DeFi projects. Notably, the launch of the Dusk Vault custody solution provides institutional investors with an asset storage solution compliant with MiCA regulations, significantly lowering the barrier for traditional finance users entering Web3.
From a tokenomics perspective, the current circulating supply of DUSK is approximately 450 million tokens, with the ecosystem fund holding 3.33% of the circulating supply. These tokens will be locked in smart contracts until project milestones are achieved, controlling supply circulation while ensuring long-term developer commitment. On-chain data shows that 27 projects have already submitted funding applications, covering use cases such as digital bonds, carbon credit trading, and share tokenization. If these applications are successfully implemented, they will generate real on-chain demand for $DUSK.
Compared to other privacy-focused public blockchains, Dusk's differentiating advantage lies in the completeness of its compliance framework. The EURQ stablecoin, launched in collaboration with Quantoz, is the first electronic money token fully compliant with MiCA. This combination of 'compliant assets + private settlement' gives Dusk a competitive edge in the EU blockchain pilot program. As more financial institutions begin experimenting with on-chain securities settlement in 2025, $DUSK may experience a revaluation of its practical utility.
