Crypto-Eye

When I first came across Walrus, I did not immediately think it was something special. At first glance, it sounded like just another crypto project talking about decentralization. But the more I read, the more it felt different. It felt like one of those projects that does not shout loudly but works deeply in the background. The kind of project people only notice once it becomes essential.

Walrus is built around a simple idea. Data should not belong to a single company. Today, most of our files live on servers owned by big tech companies. If they change rules, increase prices, or shut things down, users have no real control. Walrus tries to change that by spreading data across many independent computers instead of keeping it in one place. This makes storage more secure, more private, and much harder to censor.

What really caught my attention is that Walrus is built on the Sui blockchain. Sui is designed for speed and scalability, and Walrus uses those strengths in a smart way. Instead of forcing large files directly onto the blockchain, which is slow and expensive, Walrus stores big data separately while the blockchain keeps track of ownership, permissions, and payments. This balance makes the system practical, not just theoretical.

When someone uploads a file to Walrus, the file is broken into many small pieces. These pieces are spread across different storage providers in the network. Even if some of those providers go offline, the data can still be recovered. This happens because Walrus uses advanced coding methods that allow data to be rebuilt as long as enough pieces are available. I like to imagine it as tearing a book into pages and sharing them with many people. You do not need every page from the same person to read the story again.

This approach saves space and money. Instead of copying the same file again and again, Walrus only stores what is needed to keep data safe. That is one reason why storage on Walrus can be cheaper than many other decentralized storage systems. It is efficient by design, not by compromise.

The WAL token plays an important role here. WAL is not just a token for trading. It is used to pay for storage, reward people who provide storage space, and allow the community to vote on future changes. When someone stores data, they pay in WAL. When someone helps store and maintain that data, they earn WAL. This creates a system where everyone has a reason to act honestly.

Another thing I appreciate is that Walrus is not built by anonymous developers with no history. It comes from Mysten Labs, the same team behind Sui. Many of the people involved have backgrounds in large technology companies and serious engineering work. On top of that, the project is backed by well known investors who usually focus on long term infrastructure rather than short term hype. That tells me this is not meant to disappear overnight.

Walrus already has real use cases. NFT projects can store images and media without worrying about broken links. Developers can build decentralized apps that rely on large files. AI projects can store training data and models in a decentralized way. Games can host assets without depending on centralized servers. These are not ideas for ten years later. They are things people are actively experimenting with now.

What makes Walrus feel special to me is not just the technology. It is the feeling that it fits naturally into where the internet is going. We are moving toward a world where users want more control over their data. Where applications want to avoid single points of failure. Where censorship resistance actually matters. Walrus quietly supports all of that without forcing people to change how they think overnight.

If I am honest, Walrus does not feel like a flashy project. It feels more like plumbing. And that is actually a good thing. Plumbing is invisible when it works, but life becomes impossible when it fails. I get the sense that Walrus could become one of those invisible systems that power many things without people realizing it.

My personal feeling is that Walrus is not here to impress everyone today. It feels like it is here to still be useful many years from now. And projects like that are rare in crypto.

#walrus $WAL @WalrusProtocol

Quero explicar o Dusk de uma forma muito simples e honesta, como se estivesse falando com um amigo curioso, mas sem conhecimento técnico. Quando conheci o Dusk pela primeira vez, senti algo diferente. Não parecia barulhento ou chamativo. Parecia calmo, reflexivo e realista. Isso já me fez parar e prestar atenção.

O Dusk começou em 2018 com uma ideia clara. As finanças precisam de privacidade e regras. A maioria das blockchains esquece isso. Elas ou tornam tudo público ou ignoram completamente as regulamentações. Mas os sistemas financeiros reais não funcionam assim. Instituições bancárias e até governos não conseguem operar se todos os detalhes forem abertos para todos. Ao mesmo tempo, eles não podem funcionar sem transparência e confiança. O Dusk foi criado para viver no meio desses dois mundos.

I’ve been following crypto projects for a while, and when I came across Walrus, it honestly caught my attention. It’s not one of those projects that only focus on hype or quick profit. Walrus feels different it’s solving something real. It’s built for a future where data doesn’t live in the hands of big corporations but is shared, secure, and open to everyone.

Walrus is a decentralized data storage protocol that runs on the Sui blockchain. Instead of saving files on one company’s server like Google Drive or Dropbox, it breaks them into small pieces and spreads them across a global network. These tiny pieces are stored safely on independent computers. When you need your file, Walrus can rebuild it perfectly, even if some of those computers go offline. That means your data stays safe, always available, and no one can secretly delete or control it.

The system works through a simple flow. You upload your file, Walrus cuts it into fragments, encodes those pieces using a method called erasure coding, and distributes them to storage providers all over the world. The Sui blockchain keeps track of everything—where those fragments go, who’s storing them, and how much they’re paid. So it’s not just storage, it’s smart, decentralized coordination.

What makes Walrus unique is how tightly it’s integrated with the Sui blockchain. It’s not just an app sitting on top of Sui—it’s part of the Sui ecosystem. This makes data management smoother and more secure. Another thing that stands out is programmable storage. Developers can write smart contracts that automatically interact with stored data. That means you can build apps that use stored files directly—games, AI tools, NFT collections, and even entire websites. It’s like turning your storage into living data.

The WAL token is the key to the whole system. People use WAL to pay for data storage, stake it to run nodes, and vote on community decisions. Storage providers earn WAL for keeping data safe. If they don’t behave or lose data, they lose part of their stake. This creates trust without needing a central authority.

Walrus already has real use cases. NFT projects use it to store images and videos permanently. Developers use it for decentralized websites and games that need large assets. AI projects use it for training data that must stay secure and verifiable. Even blockchain projects use Walrus to archive historical data safely.

The project comes from the same team behind the Sui blockchain—Mysten Labs. These are experienced developers who’ve worked on big tech systems before. Their background gives Walrus a strong technical foundation. It’s also backed by well-known investors like a16z Crypto and Standard Crypto, which adds credibility and funding for growth.

As I look at Walrus, I see something much bigger than just another crypto token. It’s part of a larger shift—moving from centralized data control to decentralized ownership. It’s not about speculation; it’s about building the infrastructure that Web3 and AI will rely on. If the internet is truly going to be open, it needs a foundation like this.

Personally, I think Walrus is one of the few projects that makes sense both technically and ethically. It’s building something useful, not just flashy. It has a clear purpose—making data private, reliable, and accessible to everyone, not just a few corporations. If this vision continues to grow, Walrus might quietly become one of the backbones of the decentralized internet.

#walrus $WAL @WalrusProtocol

Quando comecei a ler sobre Dusk, não senti aquela sensação habitual de hype com cripto, fala de preços ou promessas exageradas. Em vez disso, sentiu-se calmo, técnico e estranhamente realista. O Dusk foi fundado em 2018, e desde o início não tentou competir com blockchains que focam em velocidade, memes ou especulação de varejo. Foi construído com uma pergunta muito específica em mente: como os sistemas financeiros reais podem operar em cadeia sem quebrar as regras sob as quais já vivem?

A maioria das blockchains é totalmente transparente por padrão. Qualquer pessoa pode ver transações, saldos e atividades. Isso parece ótimo em teoria, mas na prática financeira torna-se um problema. Bancos, fundos, empresas e instituições não podem expor dados sensíveis como identidades de investidores, estruturas de negócios ou transferências internas ao público. Ao mesmo tempo, os reguladores precisam de provas de que as regras estão sendo seguidas. O Dusk tenta se posicionar exatamente no meio dessa tensão.

Dusk started back in 2018, at a time when most blockchains were loud, fully transparent, and honestly not very friendly to real financial institutions. Everything on chain was visible. Wallets, balances, transfers. That openness was great for decentralization, but terrible for banks, funds, and regulated companies that are legally required to protect sensitive data. Dusk was born from that exact problem.

From the beginning, the people behind Dusk were not trying to build another hype driven crypto network. They were focused on one clear question. How can real financial systems move to blockchain without breaking privacy laws, compliance rules, and business confidentiality. Instead of forcing finance to adapt to blockchain, Dusk tried to adapt blockchain to finance.

At its core, Dusk is a Layer 1 blockchain built specifically for regulated markets. That means things like securities, equities, bonds, funds, and other real world assets. These are not simple tokens you trade for fun. These are serious financial instruments that come with rules, reporting requirements, and legal responsibility. Dusk was designed to handle all of that from day one.

One of the most important ideas behind Dusk is privacy with accountability. On most blockchains, you either see everything or you hide everything. Dusk takes a different path. Transactions can remain private to the public, but still be auditable by the right parties if needed. So regulators can do their job, companies can protect their data, and users do not have their financial life exposed to the entire internet.

This works because Dusk uses advanced cryptography, especially zero knowledge proofs. In simple words, this technology allows someone to prove they follow the rules without showing their private information. For example, a participant can prove they are eligible to trade or invest without revealing their identity or balance to everyone else. When I think about traditional finance, this makes complete sense. That is how the real world already works. Dusk just brings that logic on chain.

Another key part of Dusk is confidential smart contracts. Most smart contracts today are fully transparent. Anyone can read the logic and the data. That is not acceptable for institutions managing sensitive agreements. On Dusk, smart contracts can execute privately. Business logic, settlement rules, and financial operations can happen on chain without exposing confidential details. That alone opens the door for many use cases that were impossible before.

What really stands out to me is how compliance is treated on Dusk. It is not something added later or handled off chain. Compliance rules can be embedded directly into the blockchain logic. This means things like investor restrictions, reporting requirements, and regulatory limits are enforced automatically. If the rules are not met, the transaction simply does not happen. That reduces risk, human error, and trust issues.

When people talk about real world asset tokenization, Dusk fits perfectly into that picture. Tokenizing assets like shares, bonds, or funds sounds exciting, but in practice it is very difficult. You cannot just put these assets on a public blockchain and hope regulators accept it. Dusk provides a realistic path. Assets can be represented digitally, traded efficiently, and settled faster, while still respecting laws and privacy. If institutions ever move large scale assets on chain, systems like Dusk are the kind they would need.

The DUSK token itself plays a practical role in this ecosystem. It is used to pay for transactions, operate smart contracts, and secure the network through staking. It is not just there for speculation. It exists because the network needs an internal economic system to function, reward validators, and maintain security.

The team behind Dusk comes from a mix of technical and financial backgrounds. They clearly understood early on that blockchain would never replace traditional finance unless it could work with regulation instead of fighting it. Over the years, Dusk has also built relationships with regulated exchanges and infrastructure providers, showing that this is not just theory. Real pilots, real integrations, and real progress are happening quietly.

Of course, Dusk is not without challenges. Institutional adoption is slow. Regulations differ across countries. Trust takes time. But in a way, those challenges actually match Dusk’s personality. This is not a fast, noisy project. It is slow, careful, and deliberate. And sometimes, that is exactly what real infrastructure needs to be.

If I am being honest, Dusk feels less like a typical crypto project and more like a foundation being laid for something bigger. It is not trying to impress everyone. It is trying to work. And for me, that makes it interesting. In a space full of noise, Dusk feels calm, focused, and grounded. That is a feeling I do not get very often in crypto, and it is why I think this project deserves attention.

#dusk $DUSK @Dusk_Foundation

Quando comecei a ler sobre Walrus, não senti aquela sensação habitual de euforia com criptomoedas. Não havia promessas altissonantes ou alegações exageradas. Em vez disso, parecia alguém dizendo calmamente que temos um problema real na internet e estamos tentando resolvê-lo corretamente. Foi isso que me atraiu.

Walrus é construído em torno de uma ideia simples, mas poderosa. A internet funciona com dados, mas a maioria desses dados ainda reside em servidores pertencentes a algumas grandes empresas. Se esses servidores falharem, forem censurados ou mudarem as regras, usuários e aplicativos sofrem. O Walrus está tentando mudar isso oferecendo armazenamento descentralizado que realmente funciona em escala, especialmente para arquivos grandes. Foi projetado para funcionar com a blockchain Sui, o que lhe dá velocidade e flexibilidade que sistemas mais antigos têm dificuldade em alcançar.

Quando comecei a prestar atenção a como a cripto realmente funciona por trás das cortinas, percebi algo que me causava uma certa desconforto. Falamos muito sobre descentralização e propriedade, mas na maioria das vezes a parte mais importante de um aplicativo não está realmente na blockchain. As imagens, os vídeos, os documentos, os arquivos de IA, tudo isso geralmente vive em outro lugar. Em servidores pertencentes a alguém. Em links que podem quebrar. Em sistemas que podem desaparecer.

Esse é o espaço que o Walrus está tentando resolver, e quanto mais olho para isso, mais sentido faz para mim.

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