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DOCUMENTATION

Overview

Dusk is an open source and secure network infrastructure that hosts a privacy-preserving distributed ledger technology (DLT) conceived for the digitization - or tokenization - of all types of financial instruments, as well as for clearance and settlement operations of their transactions.

Dusk is powered by cutting-edge technology, engineered for the inception and deployment of disintermediated services and decentralized applications with a specific focus on the financial sector, both traditional and alternative.

Technically, Dusk is a layer one, zero-knowledge friendly, proof-of-stake blockchain network protocol with an emphasis on privacy and compliance.

Simply put, Dusk is privacy-centric global ledger for real world applications and assets.

Why Choose Dusk?

Dusk is engineered for high performance and ease of use, catering to both developers and users.

Unparalleled Privacy
  1. Implements confidential smart contracts with Phoenix and Zedger transaction models.
  2. Uses the most popular and sound zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptographic tools for privacy, being the PlonK proof system and the Poseidon hash function among them.
  3. Provides a privacy-preserving digital identity protocol for compliance and secure user interactions.
High Performance and Finality
  1. Features Kadcast, an innovative network protocol for 10x more efficient block and transaction data propagation.
  2. Dusk’s consensus algorithm succinct attestation is powered by proof-of-stake sybil resistant mechanism, and enables complete state finality, not just transactions. This unlocks a wealth of financial applications.
  3. Transactions are fast and efficient, bolstered by Piecrust, Dusk’s ZK-friendly virtual machine.
Developer and User Experience
  1. Smart contracts are WASM bytecode, enabling their development in Rust and any other programming language that compiles to WebAssembly.
  2. Introduces an innovative economic model where smart contracts can be elevated to real-world applications and services to greatly boost adoption.
  3. Users can use a WebWallet without compromising the security of privacy-preserving transactions.

Use Cases

Dusk is ideal for building transactional applications with high throughput and privacy that achieve immediate finality without relying on centralized infrastructure or trusted third parties. For example:

  • Automated and self-governing securities.
  • Confidential smart contracts and security tokens.
  • Digital share registry management.
  • Decentralized smart bulletin boards.
  • Proxy voting.
  • Self-custodial applications.
  • Decentralized finance.

Please refer to Dusk’s use cases for more information.

A Note on Privacy and Compliance

Dusk uniquely offers the possibility to automate processes previously requiring the use of trusted (and costly) third parties. The novel use of ZK technology enables organizations to harness the power of DLT while respecting confidentiality agreements and data protection legislation. Anyone can leverage Dusk to inexpensively issue programmable financial assets that are governed by privacy-preserving smart contracts.

The privacy aspect of Dusk allows to overcome issues associated with the use of open ledgers, where transactions are broadcasted publicly among users in clear. Some of these problems include market manipulation from the transaction validators (i.e. the so called maximal extractable value (MEV)), the impossibility to comply to GDPR especially when KYC/AML procedures are involved, the perils associated to the lack of privacy ranging from financial risks to social engineering, hacking, and threats to personal freedom.