When it comes to evaluating blockchain projects, investors care about two main things: can it be built, and when will it be usable.

As a compliance-focused privacy L1 chain, DUSK was supposed to have a highlight moment in 2026. The launch of DuskEVM mainnet was a key milestone that everyone was watching. However, by mid-January, the expected launch still hadn't happened, leading some to wonder—has it been delayed again?

Let's start with the facts. The project's settlement layer mainnet has been running for a while, since January 2025. The team even posted a commemorative message on its one-year anniversary, emphasizing "iteration and upgrades," and restructured the architecture into a modular design. The post clearly states: DuskEVM, as an EVM-compatible application layer, will be launched soon. Since mid-2025, the development team has been updating progress on the testnet via social media. In late December, they optimized the gas fee model to balance costs for simple transfers and complex contracts. Moving into 2026, on January 13th, they posted that "DuskEVM aims to energize the ecosystem, the next phase is loading"; by January 15th, they directly released a series titled "5 Things You Need to Know Before Launch," covering Hedger privacy integration, institutional partners, Chainlink cross-chain, and more. It sounds quick, but there has been no clear launch date.

Why has it taken so long from testing to mainnet? Simply put, privacy technology is not a joke. Dusk's Hedger module combines zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption, and verifying the security of such technology is not a quick process.