On blockchains, value transfer ultimately depends on settlement layers that must strike a balance between transaction speed, certainty of finalization, and governance. While most public networks emphasize openness and permissionless access, institutional finance typically requires built-in privacy, enforceable rules, and clear auditability directly within the settlement layer.
Introduced in 2018, Dusk was designed as a layer-1 blockchain tailored specifically for regulated financial use cases rather than mass-market retail activity. Its architecture is modular, decoupling the consensus mechanism from application logic so developers can create compliant DeFi applications, institutional marketplaces, and tokenized real-world assets on a common foundation. Privacy is a default feature for transactions, with mechanisms for selective disclosure that enable audits and regulatory review when necessary forming the core of its compliance model. Instead of relying on external tools, the network emphasizes protocol-native privacy and deterministic execution for security. This approach comes with compromises: reduced composability and a more limited ecosystem compared to general-purpose blockchains, which currently constrains liquidity and the pace of experimentation.
