Tokenomics
The Dusk protocol utilizes the DUSK token both as an incentive for consensus participation and as its primary native currency. DUSK is currently represented as an ERC20 or BEP20 token. Since mainnet is now live, users are able to migrate tokens to native DUSK via a burner contract.
This page provides an in-depth overview of the DUSK token’s metrics, utility, allocation, emission schedule, rewards, as well as insights from the Economic Protocol Design report.
Token Metrics
- Token Name: Dusk
- Token Symbol: DUSK
- Initial Supply: 500,000,000 DUSK, comprising both ERC20, BEP20. These are migrated to native DUSK tokens using a burner contract.
- Total Emitted Supply: 500,000,000 DUSK will be emitted over 36 years to reward stakers on the mainnet, following the Token Emission Schedule.
- Maximum Supply: 1,000,000,000 DUSK, combining the 500M initial supply and 500M emitted over time.
- Circulating Supply: Available on this page. The circulating supply reflects the initial supply minus the DUSK held by the Dusk deployer.
- ICO: Raised $8 million in November 2018, with tokens priced at $0.0404. Private sale tokens account for 50% of the total supply, split between 10% DUSK BEP20 and 40% DUSK ERC20.
Token Contract
The DUSK token is available as an ERC20 on Ethereum and a BEP20 on Binance Smart Chain.
| Chain | Standard | Contract Address |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | ERC20 | 0x940a2db1b7008b6c776d4faaca729d6d4a4aa551 |
| Binance Smart Chain | BEP20 | 0xb2bd0749dbe21f623d9baba856d3b0f0e1bfec9c |
Token Markets & Exchanges
The DUSK token is widely accessible on top-tier CEXs and DEXs. For more information on the various locations DUSK is accessible, see the markets pages for Coinmarketcap and Coingecko:
Token Utility
DUSK serves several key purposes within the ecosystem:
- Used for staking in consensus participation.
- Rewards to consensus participants.
- Payment of network fees (See Transaction fees & gas).
- Paying for the deployment of dApps on the network.
- Payment of services on the network.
Transaction fees & gas
Every transaction on Dusk consumes gas, a unit that measures how much work it does on-chain.
- You specify a gas limit (maximum work you’re willing to pay for) and a gas price in
LUX
(`1 LUX = 10⁻⁹ DUSK). - The actual fee paid is
gas_used × gas_price. Unused gas is not charged. - If a transaction runs out of gas during execution, it is reverted and the fee for the gas consumed is still charged.
Gas price adjusts with network demand. When demand is low, prices tend to be low, resulting in very cheap transactions for users.
Collected fees are added to the block reward and redistributed as described in Incentive structure.
Token Allocation and Vesting Overview
The vesting period ran from May 2019 to April 2022.
| Allocation Category | Percentage | DUSK Tokens | Vested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Token Sale | 50% | 250,000,000 | 250,000,000 |
| Team | 6.4% | 32,000,000 | 32,000,000 |
| Advisors | 6.4% | 32,000,000 | 32,000,000 |
| Development | 18.1% | 90,500,000 | 90,500,000 |
| Exchange | 11.8% | 59,000,000 | 59,000,000 |
| Marketing | 7.3% | 36,500,000 | 36,500,000 |
| Total | 100% | 500,000,000 | 500,000,000 |
Staking Details
Staking is a crucial aspect of the Dusk protocol, allowing token holders to contribute to network security. For more details on the emission schedule, see the Token Emission Schedule below. Here are the primary details for staking DUSK tokens:
- Minimum Staking Amount: 1000 DUSK.
- Maximum Staking Amount: No upper bound.
- Stake Maturity Period: 2 Epochs - 4320 blocks.
- Unstaking: No penalties or waiting period.
Token Emission Schedule
The DUSK token emission schedule plays a vital role in incentivizing network participants, particularly in the early stages of the blockchain network, where transaction fees alone may not be sufficient to reward node operators and validators. By systematically emitting tokens over time, the Dusk network ensures that participants are adequately compensated for securing and maintaining the network, fostering its growth and decentralization.
The token emission has been designed to align with the long-term vision of building a robust and enduring ecosystem, while controlling inflation and limiting potential attack vectors. The emission schedule follows a carefully structured geometric decay model, wherein the number of emitted tokens reduces systematically every 4 years. This approach balances the need for continuous token issuance with inflation control, ensuring long-term sustainability and stability for the DUSK token economy.
Key aspects of the DUSK token emission schedule include:
- 36-Year Emission Duration: The token emission is distributed across 36 years, divided into 9 periods of 4 years each.
- Emission Reduction Every 4 Years: Token emission decreases every 4 years by a fixed reduction rate, ensuring gradual reduction in token issuance, similar to Bitcoin’s halving model.
Token Emission
The emission rate starts with a reduction rate r = 0.5, meaning the token emission halves every 4 years. This strategy is designed to rapidly build network participation by providing strong early incentives.
| Period (Years) | Period Duration (Blocks) | Total Emission (DUSK) | Total Supply (Cumulative) | Emission Per Block | Reduction Rate (r) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (0-4) | 12,614,400 | 250.48M | 250.48M | 19.8574 DUSK/block | N/A |
| 2 (4-8) | 12,614,400 | 125.24M | 375.72M | 9.9287 DUSK/block | 0.5 |
| 3 (8-12) | 12,614,400 | 62.62M | 438.34M | 4.9644 DUSK/block | 0.5 |
| 4 (12-16) | 12,614,400 | 31.31M | 469.65M | 2.4822 DUSK/block | 0.5 |
| 5 (16-20) | 12,614,400 | 15.65M | 485.30M | 1.2411 DUSK/block | 0.5 |
| 6 (20-24) | 12,614,400 | 7.83M | 493.13M | 0.6206 DUSK/block | 0.5 |
| 7 (24-28) | 12,614,400 | 3.91M | 497.04M | 0.3103 DUSK/block | 0.5 |
| 8 (28-32) | 12,614,400 | 1.95M | 498.99M | 0.1551 DUSK/block | 0.5 |
| 9 (32-36) | 12,614,400 | 0.98M | 499.97M | 0.0776 DUSK/block | 0.5 |
More information regarding the model can be found in the Economic Protocol Design report.
Incentive Structure
Each block has a block reward that consists of:
- Newly emitted DUSK according to the token emission schedule
- All transaction fees paid in that block
This total reward is distributed between network participants and the development fund. In the current design:
- 70% to the Block Generator (proposal step) and an extra 10% depending on the credits included in the certificate. Any undistributed rewards from this 10% are burned as part of the gas-burning mechanism.
- 10% to the Dusk Development Fund
- 5% to the Validation Committee (validation step)
- 5% to the Ratification Committee (ratification step)
This structure rewards all roles in Succinct Attestation, with a strong incentive for block generators to include as many votes as possible in their certificates.
Slashing
Dusk uses soft slashing to discourage misbehaviour and long downtime from provisioners. The protocol does not burn a provisioner’s staked DUSK; instead it temporarily reduces how that stake participates and earns rewards.
When can you be slashed?
Soft slashing is only applied when a provisioner repeatedly fails to behave as expected, for example by:
- running outdated or modified node software; or
- frequently missing assigned duties (e.g. block generator or committee slots).
If you run the official, up‑to‑date node and keep it online and in sync, slashing should be rare.
Effects of soft slashing
Soft slashing has two consequences:
Suspension
After enough faults, the provisioner’s stake is suspended for one or more epochs:
- the suspended stake is not considered for committee selection;
- it earns no rewards while suspended;
- repeated faults increase the length of future suspensions.
Once the suspension period ends and the node behaves correctly, the stake becomes eligible again.
Penalization
Alongside suspension, a portion of the stake is penalized:
- the penalized portion is moved to the claimable rewards pool, so no DUSK is lost from the system;
- the effective stake used in sortition is reduced, so the node is selected less often;
- the penalty grows with consecutive suspensions (starting around 10% of the stake and increasing in steps).
If the effective stake falls below the minimum (1000 DUSK), it must be un‑staked and re‑staked to participate again.
In practice, avoiding slashing is straightforward: run the official software, keep your node current and online, and monitor it for missed duties.