In the compliant crypto ecosystem of 2026, most Layer1s are competing to increase speed, reduce costs, and improve TPS. However, Dusk Network has taken a completely different approach—implementing on-chain identity verification and turning it into an infrastructure-level feature.

The logic behind the Citadel protocol is actually quite straightforward: this is not a general-purpose tool but is specifically designed for assets with "identity tags." A Bitcoin on a public chain? Transfer it freely. But if your assets are tokenized bonds, fund shares, structured products under MiCA regulation, or involve KYC/AML verification, investor qualification checks... then Citadel shifts from an "optional" feature to a "necessity."

On the technical level, through zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-SNARKs), users can prove their identity attributes to smart contracts—such as "I am an EU resident," "I am not on a sanctions list," or "I possess a qualified investor certificate." Throughout this process, sensitive information like passports and IDs are never exposed to anyone, including contract developers.

This solves the old problem of traditional on-chain compliance: either privacy is compromised, or compliance checks rely on off-chain manual approval, which is inefficient. Now, both verifiability and privacy are achieved simultaneously.

Conversely, if in your project, the logic of "who can hold" is more important than "how to transfer," and compliance access must occur automatically, in real-time, and immutably on-chain, then Dusk's Citadel is currently one of the most mature solutions. Pure utility tokens or permissionless assets are indeed not suitable; but for truly institutional-grade RWAs, lacking this system almost means "incomplete compliance."

Is your project identity-agnostic or strongly identity-bound? Feel free to discuss how you prioritize Citadel in your RWA on-chain solution.