Crypto-Eye

Ketika saya pertama kali menemukan Walrus, saya tidak langsung merasa ini sesuatu yang istimewa. Dari sekilas, terdengar seperti proyek kripto lain yang berbicara tentang desentralisasi. Tapi semakin saya baca, semakin saya merasa berbeda. Rasanya seperti proyek yang tidak berteriak keras, tetapi bekerja secara mendalam di latar belakang. Proyek semacam ini baru disadari orang ketika menjadi sangat penting.

Walrus dibangun di sekitar ide sederhana. Data seharusnya tidak dimiliki oleh satu perusahaan saja. Saat ini, sebagian besar file kita berada di server yang dimiliki oleh perusahaan teknologi besar. Jika mereka mengubah aturan, menaikkan harga, atau menutup layanan, pengguna tidak memiliki kendali nyata. Walrus mencoba mengubah hal ini dengan menyebarkan data ke banyak komputer independen alih-alih menyimpannya di satu tempat. Ini membuat penyimpanan lebih aman, lebih pribadi, dan jauh lebih sulit untuk diblokir.

Saya ingin menjelaskan Dusk dengan cara yang sangat sederhana dan jujur, seolah-olah sedang berbicara dengan teman yang penasaran tetapi tidak teknis. Saat pertama kali menemukan Dusk, saya merasa sesuatu yang berbeda. Rasanya tidak terlalu keras atau mencolok. Rasanya tenang, penuh pertimbangan, dan realistis. Itu sudah membuat saya melambat dan memperhatikan lebih seksama.

Dusk dimulai pada tahun 2018 dengan satu gagasan yang jelas. Keuangan membutuhkan privasi dan aturan. Kebanyakan blockchain melupakan hal ini. Mereka membuat segalanya terbuka atau mengabaikan regulasi sama sekali. Tetapi sistem keuangan nyata tidak bekerja seperti itu. Lembaga perbankan bahkan pemerintah tidak bisa beroperasi jika setiap detail dibuka untuk semua orang. Di sisi lain, mereka tidak bisa berjalan tanpa transparansi dan kepercayaan. Dusk diciptakan untuk hidup di tengah dua dunia ini.

Saya telah mengikuti proyek-proyek kripto selama beberapa waktu, dan ketika saya menemukan Walrus, secara jujur proyek ini menarik perhatian saya. Ini bukan salah satu proyek yang hanya fokus pada hype atau keuntungan cepat. Walrus terasa berbeda, karena sedang menyelesaikan sesuatu yang nyata. Ini dibangun untuk masa depan di mana data tidak lagi berada di tangan korporasi besar, tetapi dibagikan, aman, dan terbuka untuk semua orang.

Walrus adalah protokol penyimpanan data terdesentralisasi yang berjalan di blockchain Sui. Alih-alih menyimpan file di server perusahaan tunggal seperti Google Drive atau Dropbox, Walrus memecahnya menjadi bagian-bagian kecil dan menyebarkannya ke seluruh jaringan global. Bagian-bagian kecil ini disimpan dengan aman di komputer independen. Ketika Anda membutuhkan file Anda, Walrus dapat membangun kembali secara sempurna, bahkan jika beberapa komputer tersebut offline. Artinya data Anda tetap aman, selalu tersedia, dan tidak ada yang bisa secara diam-diam menghapus atau mengendalikannya.

Ketika saya pertama kali mulai membaca tentang Dusk, saya tidak merasakan perasaan hype kripto biasa, seperti pembicaraan harga atau janji-janji yang berlebihan. Sebaliknya, terasa tenang, teknis, dan anehnya realistis. Dusk didirikan pada tahun 2018, dan sejak awal tidak berusaha bersaing dengan blockchain yang fokus pada kecepatan, meme, atau spekulasi ritel. Blockchain ini dibangun dengan pertanyaan sangat spesifik: bagaimana sistem keuangan nyata bisa berpindah ke blockchain tanpa melanggar aturan yang sudah mereka jalani?

Sebagian besar blockchain secara default bersifat transparan sepenuhnya. Siapa pun dapat melihat transaksi, saldo, dan aktivitas. Ini terdengar bagus dalam teori, tetapi dalam dunia keuangan nyata justru menjadi masalah. Bank, dana, perusahaan, dan lembaga tidak dapat mengungkapkan data sensitif seperti identitas investor, struktur transaksi, atau transfer internal ke publik. Di sisi lain, otoritas pengawas membutuhkan bukti bahwa aturan sedang dipatuhi. Dusk berusaha berada tepat di tengah-tengah ketegangan ini.

Dusk dimulai kembali pada tahun 2018, saat sebagian besar blockchain masih berisik, sepenuhnya transparan, dan jujur saja tidak terlalu ramah bagi lembaga keuangan nyata. Semua hal di rantai terlihat jelas. Dompet, saldo, transfer. Keterbukaan ini bagus untuk desentralisasi, tetapi sangat buruk bagi bank, dana, dan perusahaan yang diwajibkan secara hukum untuk melindungi data sensitif. Dusk lahir dari masalah persis seperti itu.

Sejak awal, orang-orang di balik Dusk tidak berusaha membangun jaringan kripto lain yang didorong oleh hype. Mereka fokus pada satu pertanyaan yang jelas. Bagaimana sistem keuangan nyata bisa pindah ke blockchain tanpa melanggar hukum privasi, aturan kepatuhan, dan kerahasiaan bisnis. Alih-alih memaksa keuangan menyesuaikan diri dengan blockchain, Dusk mencoba menyesuaikan blockchain dengan keuangan.

Ketika saya pertama kali mulai membaca tentang Walrus, saya tidak merasakan perasaan euforia kripto biasanya. Tidak ada janji keras atau klaim berlebihan. Sebaliknya, terasa seperti seseorang yang tenang mengatakan bahwa kita memiliki masalah nyata di internet dan kita sedang berusaha memperbaikinya dengan benar. Itulah yang menarik minat saya.

Walrus dibangun di sekitar ide yang sederhana namun kuat. Internet berjalan berdasarkan data, tetapi sebagian besar data tersebut masih berada di server yang dimiliki oleh beberapa perusahaan besar. Jika server-server ini gagal, diblokir, atau mengubah aturan, pengguna dan aplikasi akan menderita. Walrus berusaha mengubah hal ini dengan menawarkan penyimpanan terdesentralisasi yang benar-benar berfungsi dalam skala besar, terutama untuk file-file besar. Ini dibangun untuk berjalan bersama blockchain Sui, yang memberikannya kecepatan dan fleksibilitas yang sulit dicapai sistem lama.

Ketika saya pertama kali mulai memperhatikan bagaimana kripto sebenarnya bekerja di balik layar, saya menyadari sesuatu yang terasa sedikit tidak nyaman. Kami banyak membicarakan desentralisasi dan kepemilikan, tetapi sebagian besar waktu bagian paling penting dari sebuah aplikasi sebenarnya tidak berada di blockchain. Gambar, video, dokumen, file AI, semuanya biasanya berada di tempat lain. Di server yang dimiliki seseorang. Di tautan yang bisa rusak. Di sistem yang bisa menghilang.

Itulah ruang yang coba diperbaiki oleh Walrus, dan semakin saya telusuri, semakin masuk akal bagi saya.

When I look at most blockchains, I usually see two extremes. One side is fully public, where almost everything is visible on-chain. The other side is private systems that hide data, but often feel closed off or less open for everyone to verify. Dusk Network grabbed my attention because they are trying to live in the middle in a very deliberate way. They are building a Layer 1 blockchain that aims to support real finance, regulated finance, and real world assets, while keeping sensitive information private and still allowing the right kind of auditability.

I like to explain Dusk like this. Imagine a real financial market, like shares, bonds, funds, or private investments. In the real world, not every detail is broadcast to the whole planet. Traders do not want competitors watching their moves in real time. Institutions do not want client positions exposed. At the same time, regulators and auditors need visibility when there is a legal reason to check. If you take classic public blockchains, they are great at transparency, but they can be awkward for institutional privacy needs. If you take classic private systems, they can hide things, but you lose the open network benefits. Dusk is basically asking, what if we can get both privacy and a clean compliance path, without turning the system into a black box.

Dusk started back in 2018, and it has been shaped around this specific mission rather than chasing whatever trend is hot this month. The project is coordinated by the Dusk Foundation, and over time it has positioned itself around regulated assets, tokenization, and privacy-friendly financial infrastructure.

Now let me break down the big idea in very simple terms.

On a normal public blockchain, a transaction is like a postcard. It gets delivered successfully, but anyone can read what is written on it. With Dusk, the goal is closer to a sealed envelope. The network can still verify that the envelope contains a valid message, and that the sender had the right to send it, but the public does not have to see the private details. This is where zero knowledge proof technology shows up in the story. Zero knowledge proofs let you prove something is true without revealing the underlying private data. That concept is one of the foundations Dusk highlights for privacy and compliant finance use cases.

What makes this practical is how Dusk applies it to smart contracts and financial assets.

If you have ever used a smart contract platform, you know the usual rule is simple: contracts are transparent. Great for open DeFi. Not great for regulated markets where participant identity, trade size, settlement conditions, or ownership records may need confidentiality. Dusk pushes the idea of confidential smart contracts. In plain English, that means the logic can run and settle, but sensitive parts of the data can stay hidden from the public, while still being verifiable by the network.

If you are wondering why anyone cares so much, think about a real example. Imagine a regulated security token representing shares in a company, or a tokenized bond. If every trade is visible publicly, you can expose investor behavior, large positions, and market strategies. That is not how most real markets work. Dusk is trying to build rails where those assets can live on-chain, while preserving the kind of privacy institutions expect and regulators require.

Another thing that stands out is how Dusk talks about security tokens and standards. On their use case pages, they describe an on-chain security token contract standard, designed to reduce fraud and theft risks and support self custody. This matters because in classic finance, custody is often handled by intermediaries. Dusk is pushing the idea that shareholders can keep custody without depending on a middleman to hold assets, while the token logic includes the compliance structure needed for regulated assets.

Now, I do not want to make it sound like Dusk is only about hiding everything. The more interesting part is that they aim for a balance: privacy for the public, and auditability for the right parties. In regulated environments, you often need a way for authorized disclosure when required by law or oversight. That is part of why Dusk frames its tech as made for institutions and compliance-driven finance.

When you zoom out, you can see why people connect Dusk to the Real World Assets trend, sometimes called RWA tokenization. RWA tokenization is basically the process of representing real assets as tokens on a blockchain. It can include traditional securities, funds, invoices, private credit, or other real instruments. The reason this is such a big topic lately is because tokenization can make settlement faster, ownership more programmable, and distribution easier, but only if you respect the rules of regulated markets. Dusk has been building toward that kind of infrastructure for years.

Let me talk about the DUSK token for a moment, because people often skip over token utility and jump straight to price. If you are treating it seriously as a network, the token exists to make the system run. The token is used for network level economics like transaction fees and participation in securing the chain through staking. In most proof of stake designs, validators and network participants stake the native token to help secure the network and align incentives. If the network grows, token demand can be connected to usage, fees, and staking participation. The exact details can evolve, but the basic role is the classic blockchain utility role: fees and network security participation.

I always feel more confident in a project when I can see real team visibility. Dusk has a public team page listing leadership like Emanuele Francioni as Founder and CEO, along with other executives and contributors.

There is also historical material connecting early founders, including discussions and interviews from the early period around 2018 and 2019 that mention Emanuele Francioni and Jelle Pol as founders.

Partnerships matter too, because privacy and regulated finance are not purely theory. If nobody serious tests the system, it stays a whitepaper dream.

One partnership I keep coming back to is the Cordial Systems collaboration announced in February 2025. Dusk described it as a step toward institution-ready custody and an on-chain financial ecosystem, tying it directly to the growing world of tokenized assets and capital markets infrastructure.

What makes that more concrete is how this partnership connects with NPEX in Amsterdam. NPEX has publicly discussed Dusk, NPEX, and Cordial Systems working together around blockchain-powered trading and custody for real world assets, including the idea of zero trust custody. That is the kind of real world pilot that tells me the project is at least trying to meet institutions where they are.

Dusk has also posted about working with 21X, focusing on regulated finance on-chain, and their news feed ties together several institutional oriented efforts and partnerships.

If you go further back, there is also evidence that tokenization and security token infrastructure has been part of their story for a long time. For example, Next Generation Capital selecting Dusk Network for security token infrastructure was covered publicly, including by Rotterdam School of Management content that describes that selection and the tokenization goal.

So when I explain Dusk to someone, I usually summarize it like this.

They are not trying to be the chain for everything. They are trying to be the chain for a specific category: finance that needs privacy and compliance. If you are building a meme coin casino, you probably do not care. If you are building a regulated marketplace, a tokenized security platform, a compliant DeFi setup, or any system where you need confidentiality plus accountability, then the Dusk approach makes more sense.

Here are a few practical use cases that fit naturally.

Compliant issuance of digital securities. If a company wants to issue tokenized shares, you need rules about who can hold them, who can trade them, what happens during corporate actions, and how reporting works. Dusk talks about confidential security token contracts and standards designed for that kind of environment.

Private settlement and trading. Financial trades often require privacy during the process, because revealing intent can move markets. If Dusk can provide confidential execution and settlement with an audit trail for the right entities, that is a meaningful bridge between traditional market behavior and on-chain automation.

Self custody for regulated assets. In many markets, custody and control are huge. Dusk explicitly frames self custody as a goal for token holders, reducing reliance on middlemen while aiming to reduce fraud and theft risks through their contract standards.

Regulated finance moves slowly. Institutions are careful. They test everything. They need legal certainty, operational certainty, and clear integration paths. This is not like consumer crypto where you can launch a new app and get overnight adoption. So Dusk needs patience, partnerships, and sustained delivery.

Also, they are in a competitive arena. Many projects talk about RWA tokenization now. The difference is whether they can actually support real compliance, privacy, custody, and exchange operations without breaking down when the details matter. Dusk is betting that privacy plus auditability is not optional for real markets, it is mandatory.

If they succeed, the upside is not just another DeFi app. The upside is that parts of real capital markets could run on blockchain rails with faster settlement, programmable compliance, and reduced operational friction. That is the kind of future where the tech matters beyond crypto culture.

My personal feeling at the end of all this is pretty simple. I do not see Dusk as the loudest project, and it is not trying to win by hype. I see it as a project that picked a hard lane early, privacy and regulated finance, and kept building in that direction. When I see partnerships that touch custody and regulated exchanges, it makes the story feel more real. If they keep turning these pilots into real usage, I think Dusk could become one of those quiet infrastructure networks that ends up being more important than people expected.

#dusk $DUSK @Dusk_Foundation