There are numerous RWA projects on the market, with Polymesh, Realio, and others mainly playing tricks at the application layer, while the underlying layer still relies on the old EVM, resulting in high gas fees and low efficiency, making it unable to withstand high-frequency financial transactions.
Dusk is different; what makes it strong is its determination: for true privacy + true compliance, it directly digs into the virtual machine layer. Piecrust uses zero-copy technology, reading complex states at incredible speed, unlike EVM, which is painful to store anything due to gas costs. It allows low-cost verification of ZK proofs in contracts, with institutions directly embedding compliance rules into contracts, running fully encrypted, eliminating the messy off-chain database synchronization.
Aleo is aggressively raising funds but aims to be a jack of all trades, with a vague positioning and many performance compromises; Dusk, on the other hand, is fierce, focusing solely on “regulatory asset settlement.” The Phoenix model hides details but leaves room for auditing, making it tough for Wall Street. Layer 2 solutions like Manta are enjoyable to use, but the settlement rights still lie with L1, and if the bridge has issues, it all falls apart. Dusk is a native L1, wrapped in ZK from beginning to end; security is not a patch but inherent.
Currently, the ecosystem is indeed cold, with no activity on GitHub issues for half a year, development is slow as a turtle, and the entry barrier is so high that it discourages most people, making it nearly impossible for retail investors to participate. But this is precisely its moat—when regulation truly hits, and traditional giants want to go on-chain, what they need is not the server-burning thrill of Solana, nor the transparent ledger of Ethereum that everyone can see, but a hardcore, secure, and auditable vault. Dusk may look awkward now, but its direction is not off track.
