Dusk (DUSK): D-Score 44/100 — Moderately Decentralized

BlockIndex D-Score: 44/100 (Moderately Decentralized). Dusk (DUSK) is a Layer 1 cryptocurrency using PoS consensus. Dusk: Privacy-preserving Layer 1 blockchain for regulated real-world assets, ZK smart contracts, settlement, and staking.

Source: https://blockindex.ai/coin/dusk · Data by BlockIndex.AI · Updated 2026-06-19

D-Score breakdown (0-100, higher means more decentralized)
Component: Score: Overall D-Score: 44: Node distribution: 10: Initial distribution: 0: Governance: 16: Age and history: 13: Autonomy: 5: Key facts
- Layer: Layer 1
- Consensus: PoS (N/A)
- Launch: Other (2018)
- Founder: N/A
- VC funded: Yes
- Max supply: 1,000,000,000
- Circulating: 496,999,999 (49.7%)

Market data (as of 2026-06-19)
- Price: $0.09
- Market cap: $44.12M
- 24h volume: $5.66M
- 24h change: -1.18% · 7d change: -6.36%

About
Dusk is a public, permissionless Layer 1 blockchain designed for regulated financial markets and real-world asset infrastructure. The project focuses on bringing issuance, trading, disclosure, settlement, and data availability on-chain while preserving confidentiality for participants that operate under financial-market rules. Its current positioning emphasizes European regulated finance and references compliance-aligned workflows for MiFID II, MiCA, and the DLT Pilot Regime. DUSK began as a token with ERC-20 and BEP-20 versions used for migration and bridging, but the project now identifies native DUSK as the asset of the Dusk mainnet. Source data lists an original project launch date of December 11, 2018, while the native mainnet rollout began in December 2024 and the first immutable block was scheduled for January 7, 2025.

Technically, Dusk is built around privacy-preserving smart contracts and deterministic settlement. Its architecture includes native zero-knowledge smart contracts, confidential shielded transfers, transparent public accounts, DuskEVM, Hedger, DuskDS, and DuskVM. Development materials reference Rust, WASM, Solidity, zero-knowledge proofs, homomorphic encryption, OP Stack compatibility, EVM-equivalent paths, and the Forge Framework. Consensus is described through staking and provisioner-based network security rather than mining, so Dusk is classified as a proof-of-stake Layer 1 rather than a token-only project or proof-of-work chain.

The project’s main use case is regulated digital asset infrastructure, especially tokenized securities and real-world assets that require privacy, auditability, and compliance features. Dusk targets issuers, venues, custodians, financial institutions, and builders that need confidential yet verifiable settlement rails. The supplied data references NPEX-related workflows with over EUR 200 million in confirmed issuance and a 20,000-plus investor base, as well as institutional custody concepts through Dusk Vault. Market and infrastructure visibility is supported through explorers and analytics services including Etherscan, BscScan, CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap, CryptoCompare, Arkham, and other listed services.

DUSK has a hard-capped maximum supply of 1,000,000,000 tokens. Tokenomics documentation describes 500,000,000 DUSK as initial supply and another 500,000,000 emitted over time across a 36-year schedule, with geometric decay and halvings every four years. The initial allocation described in the source data included 50% token sale, 6.4% team, 6.4% advisors, 18.1% development, 11.8% exchange, and 7.3% marketing, with vesting from May 2019 to April 2022. DUSK is used for transaction fees and staking on the native network, while ERC-20 and BEP-20 versions remain relevant for migration and bridge contexts.

Governance details are less explicit in the provided data. Dusk Foundation and Dusk Network are referenced, GitHub source code is available, and no CEO or DAO-controlled governance process is identified in the summary. DScore extraction marked the project as company/foundation associated, open source, VC funded due to portfolio categorization, and not DAO governed. Development appears centered on the Dusk ecosystem roadmap for regulated asset workflows, DuskEVM deployment, Hedger confidential EVM flows, DuskVM native privacy, and grant-supported builder contributions. Node count, node level, and exact governance voting mechanisms remain unresolved in the provided source material.

Links
- Website: https://dusk.network/
- Whitepaper: https://dusk-cms.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/Dusk_Whitepaper_2024_4db72f92a1.pdf
- GitHub: https://github.com/dusk-network

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About the D-Score: BlockIndex.AI rates decentralization from 0 to 100 across node distribution, initial distribution, governance, age and history, and autonomy. Methodology: https://blockindex.ai/dscore