If you follow the developments in blockchain over the past two years, you've definitely heard of this paradox: on one hand, blockchain is said to be extremely transparent, and on the other hand, it claims to protect privacy. It sounds like a contradiction, but in real financial scenarios, it’s a big headache — banks are afraid of their transactions being exposed to the entire network when they go on-chain, and clients want privacy but also regulatory oversight.

Since 2018, Dusk Network has been working on this problem and has found a solution. They’re not aiming to completely overhaul the financial system but are creating a truly usable chain for regulated institutions. It sounds a bit idealistic, but their proposed solution actually has some substance.

Their core weapon is zero-knowledge proof privacy technology. In simple terms, it means you can prove that you know a secret without revealing the secret itself. In financial transactions, this translates to being able to prove that a transfer is compliant and legitimate, while still hiding sensitive information like the sender, recipient, and amount. When necessary, authorized parties can unlock and view the full data. This mode of "transparency when needed, privacy when desired" is actually a practice that traditional financial regulation has long been accustomed to.

Now, they’ve turned theory into practice. In collaboration with the Dutch legacy exchange NPEX, they plan to move securities worth over €300 million onto the blockchain for trading by 2026. NPEX has comprehensive financial licenses and compliance experience, while Dusk understands blockchain and privacy tech. When these two collide, it’s not just about moving assets over directly, but about re-engineering a digital trading process that complies with regulatory rules.

This "regulation-friendly" blockchain application is much more practical than simply promoting decentralization. Enabling traditional financial institutions to confidently go on-chain is key to blockchain establishing a foothold in the real world.