The window at the beginning of 2026 is very critical. Dusk has moved from the conceptual stage to a real mainnet, addressing a very practical issue—how to enable transactions that protect privacy while complying with regulatory requirements.

It's easier said than done, as different projects choose different technical approaches. Some opt for complete anonymity (like Monero), while others patch and obscure at the Layer-2 level. Dusk's approach is somewhat different, called "Controlled Privacy"—transactions default to zero-knowledge proofs in the dark, and only when regulators truly need to review, can on-chain strategies enable inspection permissions. This way, user privacy is protected, while regulators can access necessary information, each side getting what they need.

The underlying technology relies on Segregated Byzantine Agreement consensus to achieve this, completely separating verification from privacy execution. After the mainnet upgrade in Q1, DuskEVM officially launched, and it has integrated deeply with Chainlink CCIP. What does this mean? Large RWA assets in Europe (like NPEX's €300M project) can now move cross-chain under privacy protection, without worrying about exposing transaction details. For institutions, real-time settlement and automated compliance are achieved simultaneously; for ordinary users, access to formerly institutional-level assets is possible through self-custody wallets.

The RWA market is currently a hot spot. Some predictions suggest this sector could expand to hundreds of trillions of dollars by 2030. Dusk, compliant with Europe's MiCA regulatory framework and backed by a privacy foundation, has secured a good position within Europe's regulatory sandbox.

On the price front, starting from a low of $0.05, there has been a clear breakout. Technical indicators suggest a potential reversal of the long-term downtrend, pointing to the $0.10–0.12 range. But Dusk's true value isn't in hype; it's in transforming regulation from an adversary into a programmable advantage. The project's 36-year inflation curve and incentive mechanism design, like dusk gradually darkening but nurturing dawn, provide a stable foundation for the long-term institutional ecosystem.

In simple terms, this isn't just another round of hype. Financial power is shifting from centralization to the edges, and Dusk is paving that path.