Dusk Network (DUSK) is a privacy blockchain for financial applications with the aim is to enable any enterprise collaboration at scale, meet compliance requirements, and ensure that personal and transaction data remains confidential. Companies use the Dusk Network blockchain to issue tokens, trade and collaborate via smart contracts. ^[1]

Overview

In 2018, some tech experts Emanuele Francioni and Fulvio Venturelli joined forces with business experts Jelle Pol, Pascal Putman and Mels Dees to create the Dusk Foundation that eventually gave birth to the Dusk Network which is a project coordinated by the Dusk Foundation. they are a decentralized ecosystem entirely focused on providing the perfect trade-off between privacy and transparency. Dusk protects privacy and fits regulations in payments, communications and asset transfers.^[2]

As a result of immediate hiring, the team grows and the development of the blockchain DevNet is went under way. White paper was released, and with it the longer-term vision of creating a truly decentralized, confidential and secure blockchain infrastructure took shape. 

Dusk Network is the first blockchain with native confidential smart contracts. This allows parties to benefit from their highly scalable infrastructure (one of the major benefits of public blockchain) with the peace of mind that their data remains confidential. In other words, enterprises can make use of the confidential smart contracts with confidence knowing that their transactions are secure and private.^[1]

In most blockchains, spending behavior, balances, and other sensitive information is shared in an unencrypted form with the entire network. This lack of privacy is exactly what has deterred enterprises from using public blockchain solution. The Dusk Network addresses these privacy and security concerns head-on. Zero-Knowledge Utility Tokens rely on advanced cryptographic primitives that guarantee that the transmission of data is private, safe and secure. Thanks to this layer of privacy, and the versatile zero-knowledge proof system Plonk, use cases such as digital identity / self-sovereign identity become a distant reality. ^[2]

The native currency of Dusk Network is Dusk, it can act as money. The security tokens generated from this platform are compliant with existing laws, are contractually audible and private. Depending on the need of the issuer, their tokens can be enterprise or consumer grade where interested party can issue, register and trade securities in a platform that has been designed to prevent unwanted forks, power centralization and uncertain transaction finality. ^[2][3]

Dusk Network is a privacy-oriented Blockchain Protocol, that anyone can use to create zero-knowledge dApps. 

Dusk streamlines the issuance of digital securities and automates trading compliance with the world’s first programmable and confidential securities. 

Tokenized Securities

Dusk's first consortium had a laser focus on the most prominent use case Dusk Network aimed to solve in the short to medium term; the tokenization of securities, and offering and trading them. The consortium focuses on SME’s, consumers, and platforms, rather than multinationals. Tokenizing and decentralizing shares in a company, building in governance, a dividend mechanism, and other basics are alluring to companies. Especially if the new offering mechanisms, for example a Security token offering, provide much less legal drag than an IPO counterpart, therefore significantly lowering the barrier of entry for SME’s.^[1]

However, to complement IPO’s there is need to look at their legislation for a likely ecosystem that needs to be mirrored in order to be compliant. This means privacy on the one hand, because there is trade secrecy, market manipulation, and a few other things to be considered in order for traders to adopt and a fair market to establish. On the other hand, there is a level of regulatory transparency required so things can be audited and a marketplace can be built, this means KYC (know your customer) integration on the token level to allow for a truly decentralized marketplace.^[1]

Dusk is not only leveraging on their KYC and Security Experts to build a great standard (XST), but they have also leverage their consortium partners to set up the beginnings of what could become an STO incubator, where they will help the first centralized companies to decentralize just this part of their company. They will create their security tokens on top of Dusk, thus digitizing their shares, and in the future some of their governance and dividend structures.^[2]

Dusk Team

As of the 4th of June 2020, the Dusk team was made up of 34 members.

• Emanuele Francioni - Founder
• Fulvio Venturelli - Founder
• Jelle Pol
• Pascal Putman
• Mels Dees