2026-01-19 20:25:25

The name Dusk is actually not unfamiliar to veteran crypto enthusiasts — it launched back in 2018, with more experience than most people have in trading coins. Back then, mentioning it in the community usually just labeled it as "Oh, that privacy chain," and then the conversation would quickly move on.

Recently, this cold attitude has started to change. News has spread that institutional holdings are approaching 70%. How can a project that has been dormant in the market for years suddenly become a target for large funds in 2026?

There's nothing mysterious behind this — because Dusk has never followed the mainstream public chain routines from the start, nor has it competed on TPS or ecosystem prosperity. It chose a seemingly foolish but actually clever path: pouring all its energy into the niche and cold area of compliance.

**Those Forgotten Years**

From 2018 to 2023, Dusk gave the impression of a techie head-down working on problems — after launching its mainnet, it hardly made any noise, focusing all resources on infrastructure like SBA privacy consensus and secure tunnels. What was the market celebrating at that time? DeFi mining, NFT blind boxes, GameFi… Few people wanted to wait for a project that was quietly building its foundation. The coin price plummeted from around $1 at its peak, eventually losing over 90% of its market cap. Retail investors who had bought in all sold out, and in most people's eyes, the project was already a dead end.

But from another perspective, during that period, Dusk wasn't just lying flat — it was accumulating a very hard-to-get "ticket" — the qualification to engage in dialogue with traditional finance.

**The Turning Point**

After 2023, the trend truly changed. The boldest move was Dusk forming a deep partnership with NPEX, a reputable Dutch securities exchange. This wasn't just slapping a label on any exchange, but collaborating with a serious player holding official EU MTF and broker licenses. From that moment on, Dusk gained a legitimate status to stand in the traditional financial market.

DUSK-4.33%

View Original

This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.

9 Likes

Reward
9
6
Repost
Share

Comment

0/400

TokenUnlocker

· 6h ago

Wow, this is true long-termism, much more reliable than those projects that just shout slogans every day. Institutions are holding 70%, which shows they've long seen through it. Compliance is the future's moat. When the price dropped from one dollar to almost nothing, how many people dared to keep holding? That's the difference between faith and gamblers. NPEX's move is indeed ruthless, directly integrating itself into the traditional financial system. In the future, institutions won't have any concerns about entering. The real foreshadowing was laid down during those years when people mocked it. Wait, could this be another new way for the crypto world to cut the leeks? But it really seems different this time.

View OriginalReply0

DegenWhisperer

· 6h ago

Oh, so that's why institutions have started accumulating over the past two years. Playing the compliance card so cleverly. --- Wait, does that Dutch exchange really have such a solid license, or is it just another common "legitimate packaging" in the crypto world? --- Honestly, I've been dormant since 2018 until now. My patience is truly remarkable. If it were me, I would have already run away. --- So, all that explosive growth in DeFi is just an illusion. Steady and prudent strategies are the way to truly earn real money. --- Institutions pushing to 70%—that number sounds very dangerous. Is such a high concentration of chips really good? --- Tech-savvy guys doing problem-solving really won in the end. The impatient bunch back then are long gone.

View OriginalReply0

DaoDeveloper

· 6h ago

ngl the compliance play actually makes sense from a game-theoretic standpoint... while everyone else was chasing yield, dusk was literally building the merkle proof infrastructure for regulatory acceptance. that's the kind of long-term design pattern that separates signal from noise

Reply0

BrokeBeans

· 6h ago

Wait, are institutions really daring to push to 70%? I need to see which institutions they are; otherwise, I always feel it's a bit suspicious. I've already said that those TPS fanatics will eventually have to admit defeat; compliance is the real moat. Dusk turning the tide from a deadlock shows that silent projects are actually more cunning.

View OriginalReply0

GasGuzzler

· 6h ago

Oh my God, can Dusk, this old salted fish, turn things around? With 70% institutional holdings, is this serious or just another scheme to cut leeks?

View OriginalReply0

ETHmaxi_NoFilter

· 6h ago

70% institutional holding? It seems this move is actually targeting traditional financial clients. Dusk's quiet and steady approach to making big profits is quite rare; only a few can withstand the early 90% cut. Having a compliant license is truly the real moat, isn't it?

View OriginalReply0