In the cryptocurrency market on January 17, 2026, **@Dusk ** is experiencing a remarkable strong market trend, becoming one of the most watched dark horses in the privacy compliance track. In just a few days, it exploded from a long period of silence in the low range, with a 24-hour increase of over 58% to 65%, and a cumulative increase of over 87% in 7 days, with trading volume once soaring to the level of 60 million to 70 million dollars, completely breaking the consolidation pattern of the past few months.
### Why did it suddenly explode now? Core driving factors explained at a glance
Dusk Network started its layout in 2018, focusing on the most challenging aspect of "**regulatable privacy**." It is not simply pursuing absolute anonymity like privacy coins (such as Monero), but rather creating a Layer 1 infrastructure that **meets the stringent regulations of the EU (MiCA, MiFID II, DLT Pilot Regime)** and provides **institutional-grade privacy protection**. This positioning aligns perfectly with the biggest narrative hotspot in the market for 2026—**compliant RWA (real-world assets)**.
Key milestones and catalysts include:
- NPEX collaborative project significantly advancing: In-depth integration with the regulated MTF exchange NPEX in the Netherlands, planning to tokenize over €200M～€300M of securities assets on-chain. This is not a PPT, but real-world assets in a secondary market that institutions are committed to, expected to bring continuous on-chain trading volume and fee demand.
- Q1 2026 mainnet upgrade completed: DuskEVM officially launched, perfectly combining privacy-native DuskDS with EVM compatibility, allowing developers to easily deploy compliant DeFi applications and privacy smart contracts while maintaining zero-knowledge compliance proofs. This transforms Dusk from a 'technical concept' into a 'practically usable institutional-level platform.'
- Mature zero-knowledge compliance infrastructure: Achieving 'auditable privacy' through zk-proof, institutions can meet regulatory disclosure requirements without exposing sensitive business data. This is more attractive than pure anonymous coins because banks, funds, and custodians fear the compliance risks from being 'completely invisible.'
- Community and institutional sentiment are heating up simultaneously: LunarCrush data shows that mentions of privacy coins in social media have surged into the top 7, with strong bullish sentiment in the community. Meanwhile, institutional holding ratios are expected to gradually rise from 45% to 70%, helping to reduce future volatility.
### Current market snapshot (real-time data as of January 17, 2026)
- Price: Approximately $0.100～$0.105 USD (slight fluctuations across different platforms, peaking at $0.1056)
- 24-hour price increase: +58%～+65%
- 7-day price increase: +87%+
- 24-hour trading volume: $43M～$70M (high volume state)
- Market cap: Approximately $48M～$51M, ranked #439～#456
- Technical observation: Effectively breaking through the long-term downtrend line, currently consolidating around $0.10, most analysts believe that as long as it holds above $0.09～$0.095, the next target range is $0.12～$0.15, possibly even higher.
### Why is Dusk worth long-term attention?
The crypto market fears 'narrative empty spins,' but Dusk is different; it is on a **slow but solid path**:
- Not relying on hype, but on **real regulatory-friendly applications** coming to fruition.
- Not only serving retail investors but also targeting the trillion-dollar RWA market of **institutions and traditional finance**.
- Privacy is not for hiding money, but for allowing large funds to go on-chain (keeping business strategies and competitive data confidential)
In 2026, when MiCA is fully implemented and global regulations become stricter, there are only a few public chains that can achieve both 'maximum privacy intensity + maximum compliance.' Dusk is one of the most promising.
### Summary and recommendations
This wave of price increase is just the beginning; the real value realization may have to wait until the first batch of assets from the NPEX project are on-chain, more institutions are onboarded, and the DuskTrade platform officially operates. But the current momentum resonating with the fundamentals has already transformed $DUSK from a 'forgotten old project' to a 'leader in the privacy compliance track.'
If you also see the long-term trend of compliant RWA + zk privacy as promising, consider:
- Follow the official @Dusk (X) and https://dusk.network/
- Join the Discord community to follow mainnet upgrades and NPEX progress.
The crypto world changes too quickly, but projects that truly address real pain points will ultimately be remembered by the market.