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Optimism’s Next Chapter
Over the past five years, the OP Stack has evolved from an experimental Ethereum scaling solution into the go-to infrastructure for serious builders. Exchanges, enterprises, and blue-chip institutions are increasingly standardizing on the Superchain, drawn by its combination of security, scalability, and economic clarity. These features make it ideal for supporting some of the world’s most liquid markets.
The Superchain currently captures 61.4% of the Layer 2 fee market and processes 13% of all crypto transactions, with adoption continuing to grow. As the network expands, it is clear that the OP token should evolve in parallel, aligning with the momentum and real usage across the Superchain ecosystem.

Evolving the Role of OP
The Optimism Foundation earns revenue from the Superchain, a network of Layer 2 chains built on the OP Stack. Key chains include Base (Coinbase), Unichain (Uniswap), Ink, World Chain, Soneium, OP Mainnet, and numerous others. All contributing chains share a portion of their sequencer revenue with Optimism, feeding a treasury managed under governance. Over the past twelve months, Optimism has collected 5,868 ETH in revenue, which has been dedicated entirely to this treasury.
With the proposed plan, 50% of incoming Superchain revenue will be used to buy back OP tokens. This mechanism ties OP’s value directly to network activity: the more transactions, chains, and builders on the Superchain, the stronger the demand for OP.
This buyback program transforms OP from a pure governance token into a token tightly aligned with the growth and success of the Superchain. As more enterprises deploy new chains, as builders adopt OP Mainnet, and as transactions increase across the network, the buyback mechanism expands proportionally, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of growth and value capture.

How the Buyback Works
Under the proposal, 50% of Superchain revenue will be used to repurchase OP tokens on a monthly basis over the next year. Tokens purchased through this program will return to the treasury, where they can be burned or distributed as staking rewards, depending on the platform’s evolution. Governance retains oversight of all buyback parameters, ensuring flexibility and accountability.
The proposal also allows the Optimism Foundation to manage the remaining ETH revenue not allocated to buybacks. Combined with the current staking program, this creates a more active treasury management system, designed to grow the shared economies of the Superchain and support long-term sustainability.
Aligning Incentives
The Superchain operates on a self-reinforcing flywheel: usage generates revenue, revenue funds development, and development drives more usage. By directing a portion of this revenue to OP token buybacks, the proposal ensures that users, developers, infrastructure providers, and tokenholders are all contributing to the same ecosystem. OP becomes the shared reference point, benefiting directly as the Superchain expands and matures.

Next Steps
The OP Stack is increasingly serving as the settlement layer for the next generation of financial systems. By linking OP’s value directly to the Superchain, this proposal positions the token to capture value alongside network growth, providing both utility and strategic alignment for all stakeholders.
The governance proposal is scheduled for a vote on January 22. If approved, the buyback program will launch in February, marking a new chapter for the OP token and the Optimism ecosystem.

#OP $OP

Blockchain technology has reached a level of technical maturity where speed, security, and programmability are no longer experimental concepts. Yet despite these advances, adoption within regulated financial markets remains limited. The primary reason is not scalability or cost, but a deeper structural mismatch: public blockchains are transparent by default, while finance depends on confidentiality.

DUSK was created to resolve this contradiction. Instead of positioning itself as a general-purpose chain or a speculative platform, DUSK focuses on one clearly defined objective: enabling regulated financial activity on-chain without compromising privacy, compliance, or legal accountability. This focus shapes every architectural and design decision behind the protocol.

Dusk operates as a Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for the demands of regulated financial markets, where privacy, compliance, and technical rigor are not optional features but core requirements. Rather than adapting existing public-ledger models, Dusk has been designed from the ground up as a privacy-focused financial infrastructure, capable of supporting real economic activity without exposing sensitive data. Its underlying modular architecture allows different components of the system to evolve independently, making it possible to support a wide range of use cases while maintaining long-term flexibility and regulatory alignment. This architectural approach enables developers and institutions to build institutional-grade financial applications that mirror the operational standards of traditional finance, including controlled access, confidential execution, and predictable settlement. Within this framework, Dusk supports forms of compliant DeFi that move beyond speculative experimentation, enabling decentralized financial logic to operate within clearly defined legal and regulatory boundaries. The same infrastructure is well suited for tokenized real-world assets, where ownership records, transfer rules, and compliance requirements must be enforced on-chain without public disclosure. A defining characteristic of the system is that privacy and auditability are built in by design, rather than added as external layers or optional tools. Transactions and smart contract interactions can remain confidential while still being verifiable, ensuring that regulators and authorized parties can perform audits or oversight when required, without compromising the privacy of market participants. By combining selective disclosure, cryptographic verification, and compliance-aware execution, Dusk creates an environment where blockchain technology can be used for serious financial activity at scale. This positions it not as a general-purpose chain competing on volume or hype, but as foundational infrastructure for the next generation of regulated digital finance, where trust, confidentiality, and accountability must coexist within the same system.
Traditional financial systems operate on controlled disclosure. Ownership records, shareholder registries, trading activity, and settlement data are protected by law and accessed only by authorized parties. Public blockchains invert this model, exposing every transaction and balance to anyone with an internet connection. While this radical transparency has value in open systems, it becomes a critical flaw when applied to securities, funds, or institutional capital flows. DUSK approaches privacy not as an optional enhancement, but as a fundamental requirement.

At the core of DUSK’s design is the use of zero-knowledge cryptography. This allows transactions and smart contract interactions to be verified without revealing sensitive information. Ownership can remain confidential, transaction amounts can stay hidden, and business logic can execute privately, while the system still maintains cryptographic correctness. Importantly, this privacy is selective. Regulators, auditors, or other authorized entities can be granted access to relevant information without exposing it publicly. This balance between confidentiality and oversight is what makes the system viable for real-world financial use.

Smart contracts on DUSK differ fundamentally from those found on most blockchains. Rather than assuming full transparency, DUSK introduces privacy contracts that support confidential state and execution. This enables use cases that are otherwise impossible on public ledgers, such as private asset issuance, confidential voting mechanisms, regulated secondary trading, and secure settlement processes. The result is an on-chain environment that mirrors the operational realities of financial institutions rather than forcing them to adapt to unsuitable infrastructure.

Compliance is not treated as an afterthought. Financial regulation is deeply embedded into how capital markets function, governing everything from investor eligibility to reporting obligations. DUSK does not attempt to bypass these requirements. Instead, it provides the tools to implement them natively on-chain. This makes it suitable for tokenized securities, bonds, funds, and other regulated instruments where legal enforceability and data protection are non-negotiable.

The consensus model further reflects this institutional orientation. Rather than optimizing purely for maximal decentralization or experimental throughput, DUSK prioritizes finality, efficiency, and predictable execution. These characteristics are essential for environments where settlement certainty, cost stability, and operational reliability matter more than raw transaction counts. Energy efficiency and sustainability also play a role, aligning the protocol with broader regulatory and environmental expectations.

Unlike many blockchain projects, DUSK does not rely on speculative incentives or short-term narratives to attract attention. There is no emphasis on yield farming, memetic branding, or retail-driven hype cycles. Development progresses at a deliberate pace, centered on protocol research, cryptographic rigor, and long-term usability. This approach may appear understated in an industry driven by rapid visibility, but it aligns closely with how financial infrastructure is built and adopted.

Strategically, DUSK occupies a narrow but critical position within the broader blockchain ecosystem. It does not seek to replace existing financial institutions, nor does it aim to operate outside regulatory frameworks. Instead, it functions as connective tissue, allowing blockchain technology to integrate with regulated markets in a way that respects legal, commercial, and privacy constraints. Few projects are positioned to address this space, largely due to its technical complexity and regulatory sensitivity.

As the tokenization of real-world assets accelerates, the limitations of transparent-by-default blockchains will become increasingly apparent. Systems that cannot support confidentiality, selective disclosure, and regulatory alignment will struggle to move beyond experimental adoption. DUSK is built with this future in mind, offering infrastructure designed not for speculation, but for sustained institutional use.

In an ecosystem often dominated by short-term innovation and noise, DUSK represents a different philosophy. It focuses on building the foundational layers required for compliant, private, and programmable finance. While this approach may not generate immediate attention, it addresses the structural requirements that will define the next stage of blockchain adoption.
#dusk @Dusk
$DUSK

As digital payments evolve, stablecoins have emerged as one of the most practical and widely adopted use cases in blockchain. From cross-border remittances to merchant payments and institutional treasury flows, stablecoins now move billions of dollars daily. Yet most existing blockchains were not designed specifically for stablecoin settlement. They treat stablecoins as just another token, inheriting inefficiencies, volatile fee structures, and settlement constraints that limit their effectiveness at scale.

Plasma is a Layer 1 blockchain designed to address this gap directly. Rather than adapting general-purpose infrastructure for payments, Plasma is purpose-built for stablecoin settlement, optimizing every layer of the stack for speed, cost efficiency, neutrality, and reliability.
At its core, Plasma combines full Ethereum Virtual Machine compatibility with performance and finality characteristics required for real-world payments. By using Reth, a high-performance Ethereum execution client, Plasma ensures seamless compatibility with existing Ethereum tooling, smart contracts, and developer workflows. This allows developers, payment providers, and institutions to deploy applications without rewriting infrastructure or learning new programming paradigms. Existing Ethereum-based stablecoin contracts and integrations can be adopted with minimal friction.

Performance is further enhanced through PlasmaBFT

PlasmaBFT is a consensus mechanism designed to deliver sub-second finality. In payment systems, finality is not a technical luxury; it is a business requirement. Merchants, payment processors, and financial institutions require immediate transaction confirmation to manage risk and liquidity. PlasmaBFT enables fast, deterministic settlement, reducing uncertainty and making stablecoin payments viable for high-frequency, real-world use cases.
One of Plasma’s most defining features is its stablecoin-centric design. Unlike traditional blockchains where users must acquire volatile native tokens to pay transaction fees, Plasma introduces stablecoin-first gas mechanics. Transaction fees can be paid directly in stablecoins such as USDT, aligning network economics with user expectations and payment realities. This removes a significant barrier to adoption, particularly for retail users and businesses in high-adoption regions where stablecoins function as everyday digital money.

In addition, Plasma supports gasless USDT transfers, enabling users to send stablecoins without managing gas balances at all. This abstraction significantly improves user experience, especially for non-technical users, remittance corridors, and merchant payment flows. By removing friction at the transaction level, Plasma brings blockchain-based payments closer to the simplicity and usability of traditional payment apps while retaining the benefits of decentralization.

Security and neutrality are addressed through Bitcoin-anchored security design.

Bitcoin remains the most battle-tested and censorship-resistant blockchain network. By anchoring aspects of its security model to Bitcoin, Plasma aims to inherit strong neutrality guarantees while maintaining its own execution and settlement layer. This approach is intended to reduce governance capture, increase censorship resistance, and provide long-term confidence for institutions and users operating in politically and economically sensitive environments.
Plasma’s design reflects an understanding that stablecoin adoption spans diverse user groups. Retail users in high-adoption markets require low fees, fast settlement, and simple user experiences. Institutions, on the other hand, demand predictability, scalability, and infrastructure that integrates with existing compliance and payment frameworks. Plasma targets both segments by offering a network that supports high transaction throughput while maintaining deterministic settlement and developer flexibility.

From a payments and financial infrastructure perspective, Plasma positions itself as a neutral settlement layer rather than a speculative ecosystem. Its focus is not on attracting short-term activity, but on enabling durable financial flows such as remittances, merchant payments, payroll, on-chain treasury operations, and institutional settlement. By prioritizing stablecoins as first-class citizens, Plasma aligns blockchain infrastructure with how digital money is already being used globally.

As stablecoins continue to gain regulatory clarity and institutional acceptance, the need for specialized settlement networks will increase. General-purpose blockchains will struggle to meet the cost, usability, and finality requirements of payment-centric use cases at scale. Plasma addresses this challenge by offering a Layer 1 blockchain engineered specifically for stablecoin settlement, combining Ethereum compatibility, fast finality, stablecoin-native economics, and Bitcoin-inspired security principles.

In doing so, Plasma represents a shift toward application-specific blockchains that prioritize real-world utility over abstraction. It is not designed to replace existing ecosystems, but to complement them by providing the infrastructure stablecoins require to function as global digital money.

Regulatory Readiness and Compliance by Design
For stablecoins to function as global payment instruments, regulatory alignment is not optional. Payment networks must operate within legal frameworks governing anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF), consumer protection, and financial reporting. Plasma is designed with this reality in mind, positioning itself as infrastructure that can support compliant stablecoin activity rather than operating in regulatory gray zones.

Plasma’s full EVM compatibility allows regulated entities to deploy compliance-aware smart contracts that enforce rules directly at the protocol level. Identity verification, transaction monitoring, address allowlists, transfer restrictions, and jurisdictional controls can be embedded into applications without relying solely on off-chain enforcement. This enables payment providers, stablecoin issuers, and financial institutions to meet regulatory obligations while preserving the efficiency benefits of blockchain settlement.

The network’s stablecoin-first architecture also supports clearer accounting and reporting practices. By allowing transaction fees and operational costs to be denominated in stablecoins, Plasma reduces exposure to volatile native assets, simplifying treasury management and financial disclosures for regulated entities. Predictable fee structures and deterministic settlement further align with institutional risk management standards, particularly in high-volume payment and remittance environments.

From a supervisory perspective,

Plasma’s design supports auditability without sacrificing user privacy. Transaction data can be structured to allow authorized disclosure to regulators, auditors, or compliance partners when legally required, while remaining shielded from public exposure. This balance is critical for financial institutions operating under confidentiality requirements, as well as for enterprises managing sensitive commercial payment flows.
Plasma’s emphasis on neutrality and censorship resistance through Bitcoin-anchored security also carries regulatory significance. By reducing reliance on discretionary governance or centralized control points, the network aims to provide a consistent and predictable settlement environment. This minimizes systemic risk associated with unilateral intervention, while still allowing regulated applications built on top of the network to comply with applicable laws and enforcement actions.
As regulatory frameworks for stablecoins continue to mature globally, infrastructure that can adapt to evolving requirements will become increasingly valuable. Plasma is designed to serve as a compliant settlement layer upon which regulated payment systems can be built, rather than an adversarial alternative to financial oversight. This approach positions Plasma to support long-term institutional adoption as stablecoins transition from niche instruments to core components of global digital payments.

@Plasma #Plasma
$XPL

Founded in 2018, Dusk Network emerged with a clear and deliberate mission: to build a Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for regulated finance, where privacy, compliance, and real-world usability are not afterthoughts but core design principles.

At a time when most blockchains prioritized openness and permissionless experimentation, Dusk took a different approach. It recognized that institutional finance operates under strict regulatory requirements and that transparency alone is not sufficient for real financial markets. Sensitive transaction data, counterparty details, and strategic financial information must remain confidential, while still being verifiable and auditable by authorized parties. Dusk was architected to meet this exact need.

At the heart of Dusk is a modular blockchain architecture that allows financial institutions, developers, and enterprises to build applications without compromising compliance. This modularity enables flexibility in how components such as privacy, settlement, governance, and smart contracts are implemented. As a result, Dusk can support a wide range of institutional use cases, from regulated decentralized finance to tokenized real-world assets, all on a single, purpose-built network.

Privacy on Dusk is not about hiding activity from regulators. Instead, it is about selective disclosure. Transactions are shielded by default, protecting sensitive financial data, while still allowing regulators and auditors to access the information they are legally entitled to see. This balance between confidentiality and transparency is essential for banks, asset issuers, and large financial entities operating in regulated environments.

Dusk also enables compliant DeFi, redefining what decentralized finance can look like when aligned with legal frameworks. Rather than open, anonymous protocols that exclude institutional participation, Dusk supports permissioned smart contracts and identity-aware applications. This allows only verified and authorized participants to engage in certain financial activities, significantly reducing regulatory risk while maintaining the efficiency and automation benefits of blockchain technology.

Another key pillar of the Dusk ecosystem is tokenized real-world assets. By providing native support for issuing and managing digital representations of assets such as equities, bonds, and other securities, Dusk bridges the gap between traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure. Asset issuers can tokenize compliant financial instruments, while investors benefit from faster settlement, improved liquidity, and reduced operational overhead.

Ultimately, Dusk Network represents a pragmatic vision of blockchain adoption. It does not attempt to replace the financial system with ideology, nor does it sacrifice privacy in the name of radical transparency. Instead, it offers a regulated-ready, privacy-preserving Layer 1 blockchain designed for how finance actually works. By aligning blockchain technology with institutional realities, Dusk positions itself as foundational infrastructure for the next generation of global financial markets.

Beyond its technical foundations, Dusk Network addresses one of the most critical barriers to blockchain adoption in traditional finance: legal certainty. Financial institutions do not operate in experimental environments. They require predictable outcomes, enforceable rules, and infrastructure that aligns with existing legal frameworks. Dusk is designed with this reality in mind. Its consensus, transaction model, and smart contract environment are built to support finality, accountability, and governance structures that regulators and institutions recognize. This makes Dusk fundamentally different from general-purpose blockchains that later attempt to retrofit compliance through external layers or workarounds.

A key differentiator is Dusk’s focus on programmable compliance. Rather than relying on manual oversight or off-chain enforcement, compliance rules can be embedded directly into smart contracts. This enables automated enforcement of regulatory requirements such as investor eligibility, transfer restrictions, reporting obligations, and jurisdictional controls. For institutions, this significantly reduces operational risk and compliance costs, while increasing trust in automated financial processes. For regulators, it creates an environment where compliance is not optional but enforced at the protocol and application level.

Settlement efficiency is another area where Dusk delivers meaningful advantages. Traditional financial systems often rely on multi-day settlement cycles, intermediaries, and reconciliation processes that introduce friction, cost, and counterparty risk. Dusk enables near-instant settlement with cryptographic certainty, while still preserving privacy where required. This combination is particularly important for capital markets, where speed, accuracy, and confidentiality directly impact liquidity and market stability. By reducing settlement times without sacrificing regulatory oversight, Dusk aligns blockchain innovation with institutional performance standards.

Importantly, Dusk is not designed for speculative experimentation alone. Its infrastructure supports real economic activity, real issuers, and real investors. Whether it is a company issuing tokenized equity, a fund managing regulated digital assets, or a financial institution building compliant DeFi products, Dusk provides a blockchain environment where these activities can occur within clear legal and operational boundaries. This focus on real-world utility positions Dusk as long-term financial infrastructure rather than a short-term technological trend.

As global finance moves toward digitization, tokenization, and automation, the demand for blockchain systems that can integrate with existing regulatory regimes will only increase. Dusk Network anticipates this shift by offering a platform where privacy, compliance, and performance coexist by design. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for a future where blockchain is not separate from traditional finance, but seamlessly embedded within it as trusted, regulated infrastructure.

#dusk @Dusk
$DUSK