Dusk Network hit a major turning point when its EVM-compatible application layer went live on mainnet right around the second week of January 2026. After years of steady building, testing, and refining, this upgrade finally lets developers drop in standard Solidity smart contracts that settle straight onto the project’s privacy-focused Layer 1. It’s the kind of practical move that cuts through a lot of the usual friction—especially for teams or institutions that need things to feel compliant and auditable without reinventing the wheel every time.
The whole setup now runs on a clean, modular stack. There’s the base settlement layer that takes care of consensus, staking, data availability, and actually finalizing transactions. Then you’ve got the EVM layer handling the execution side for everyday smart contracts, pulling in ideas from optimistic rollups but tweaked so finality comes faster—no waiting around for week-long challenge periods. A separate privacy execution environment is still coming online for the heavier confidential stuff. Splitting things this way keeps the code simpler, taps into all the existing Ethereum tooling developers already know, and doesn’t demand crazy hardware just to run a node.
Privacy stays front and center, of course. Features like homomorphic encryption let transactions stay confidential while still being verifiable when needed, which fits right into regulated finance where you want to protect sensitive details but prove compliance to the right parties. Settlement happens natively on the base layer, with built-in pre-checks that stop bad states from ever landing on-chain. For anyone coming from other chains, the switch feels pretty seamless: same wallets, same dev environments, same libraries—just with this extra layer of selective privacy baked in.
The market reacted pretty dramatically right after launch. The native token saw wild swings—big daily jumps, one report had it up over 100 percent in a single day around January 19, weekly gains pushing past 150 percent at peaks, and in some 30-day stretches it was leading the pack among privacy-focused coins with numbers in the hundreds of percent. Price climbed to multi-month highs before pulling back sharply (one correction took out about a third of the value in a day after the parabolic run). Volume spiked, open interest climbed, and there was clear rotation money moving in from other privacy names as people hunted for compliant alternatives amid all the regulatory chatter. On-chain numbers showed more staking, faster bridge activity, and real inflows in the days following activation, though the dust is still settling on whether that momentum holds.
Ecosystem-wise, things are starting to click into place. There’s ongoing work with regulated trading venues and stablecoin setups that let tokenized real-world assets move under proper licenses. Plans for dedicated trading interfaces aim to bring sizable volumes of securities on-chain, with institutional-grade custody and issuance already in the picture. Developer interest seems to be picking up because the EVM compatibility lowers the bar so much—teams that used to face long, expensive custom integrations can now experiment in weeks using tools they’re already comfortable with. It’s drawing folks who care about building regulated DeFi primitives or asset tokenization where auditability matters more than full anonymity.
Economically, everything stays tied to one token. It covers staking for security, governance votes, gas on the EVM side, fees across layers—no splitting liquidity or value across multiple assets. Staking stayed smooth through the upgrade, participation looks solid, and some fee mechanics help with gradual scarcity.
That said, it’s not all smooth sailing. Privacy tech adds overhead, so certain operations cost more or run slower than on plain-vanilla EVM chains. Regulatory alignment is a strength but also ties the project to how rules evolve and how partners stay compliant. The space is crowded—other privacy chains, compliant platforms, general L2s adding privacy modules—all chasing similar slices of regulated finance and RWA tokenization. Turning developer curiosity into a thriving app ecosystem and deep liquidity will take time and consistent execution, especially since the focus has leaned more institutional than retail from the start.
Looking forward, this launch feels like the project finally stepping out of long development mode into something more active. Next steps probably include getting that advanced privacy layer fully running, shipping more starter tools and example apps, and layering in deeper integrations for different asset types. If the broader push toward regulated, privacy-preserving on-chain finance keeps building—especially in regions serious about data protection and compliance—there’s real potential here to become a go-to settlement layer for that niche. It’s not about moonshots or hype cycles; it’s quieter, more deliberate progress toward making blockchain actually usable in structured financial environments. We’ll see how adoption metrics shape up over the coming months, but the foundation looks solid for whoever values both accessibility and real regulatory fit.
