Recently, while reviewing some privacy public chain token models, I found the latest developments of Dusk quite interesting. The core observation is: they are promoting a shift from "holding tokens to wait" to "holding tokens to participate in the network economy."

Progress at the technical level is quite tangible. DuskDS mainnet recently upgraded to Rusk v1.4.2 and set a clear node upgrade window—this is not just a simple optimization but a fundamental operation that directly affects network rules, contract execution capabilities, and system stability. Such upgrades are like version iterations for the public chain, requiring responses from every validation node.

From the token perspective, the official tokenomics framework is very clear: an initial supply of 500 million DUSK; approximately 500 million more to be released over the next 36 years as mainnet staking rewards; with a total cap of 1 billion. This release plan is not arbitrary inflation; fundamentally, it spreads the "network security cost" over time. Stakers deposit tokens → the network gains security → real applications and compliant businesses are willing to migrate onto the chain—this forms a logical closed loop.

What’s even more interesting is on the demand side. The DuskEVM testnet is already open, with Chain ID marked as 745 (mainnet is 744). The key point is that native Gas is settled in DUSK. This means DUSK is no longer just a "consensus token" but also the fuel for the execution layer—any contract deployment, dApp operation, or user interaction will generate continuous Gas consumption, creating real token demand.

There are also clear short-term growth points. The CreatorPad incentive pool for this phase directly allocated 3,059,210 DUSK, with an active period from January 8, 2026, to February 9, 2026 (UTC 09:00-09:00, starting at 17:00 Taipei time daily). Rather than just simple incentives, this can be seen as "cold start acceleration"—attracting users into the ecosystem through content and tasks, then gradually guiding them to participate in staking and actual interactions.

Getting back to the core: don’t get caught up in "what Dusk is doing," but focus on whether the three lines—emission (staking rewards), consumption (Gas fees), and incentives (growth plans)—have already begun to form a coherent economic cycle. From the current pace, this cycle is gradually taking shape.