@Dusk kicked off back in 2018 as this privacy-first Layer 1 blockchain that's all about building regulated financial stuff without the usual headaches. The mainnet actually went live pretty recently early January 2026 after years of building, with the big DuskEVM upgrade dropping right around then to bring full EVM compatibility into their confidential setup. That's when things really started heating up for real-world use.
It got listed on Binance a while back, and that's where a ton of the action happens now the DUSK/USDT pair pulls in some of the heaviest volume, often in the tens of millions daily. Right now, DUSK is hovering around $0.20–$0.23 (depending on the exact moment you're checking), with a market cap sitting in the $100M–$115M range and 24-hour trading volume exploding anywhere from $70M to over $100M on big days. It's been on a wild ride lately, up huge percentages in the past week thanks to the mainnet buzz and RWA momentum, though it dips and spikes like everything else in this space. All-time high was over $1 back in late 2021, so plenty of room if the narrative sticks.
What really sets Dusk apart is how it weaves privacy and compliance right into the core—zero-knowledge proofs let you keep things confidential while still being fully auditable for regs like MiCA or MiFID II. That modular setup makes it perfect for institutional-grade DeFi, tokenized real-world assets like bonds or ETFs, and compliant secondary markets. They've got solid partnerships rolling, like with NPEX (that regulated Dutch exchange) for bringing actual securities on-chain, and Quantoz for stablecoin stuff. The ecosystem's growing with privacy-preserving smart contracts, Dusk Vault for custody, and now EVM support opening the door to more devs and apps. TVL numbers are still ramping up post-mainnet, but the focus is on real regulated finance rather than hype farming—think on-chain settlement without leaking sensitive data.
On the funding side, they raised around $8–10M early on through private rounds and ICO back in 2018–2020, with backers including heavy hitters like Binance Labs (now YZi Labs), plus others like Maven 11, BlockVenture, and even some exchange ties like Bitfinex/iFinex. Solid institutional support from the jump, no massive retail frenzy dump.
At the end of the day, Dusk isn't just another privacy coin chasing trends—it's quietly positioning itself as the go-to infrastructure for bringing traditional finance fully on-chain with actual compliance and privacy baked in. In a world where regs are tightening but institutions want in, that kind of real utility could make it one of the sleepers that actually delivers long-term.
