Retail investors in the crypto space are frequently trapped, which seems like a perception issue, but the root cause is deeply entrenched—every move you make is transparent.

How much coin you buy, when you enter the market, when you want to exit—these details are clearly visible to whales through on-chain addresses. You are under the spotlight, while the market makers operate in the shadows. The fate of losing money has already been sealed.

This is why I have been paying close attention to the Dusk project recently. It’s not about encouraging research, but because it genuinely solves the most feared problem for retail investors—providing a layer of true privacy protection for small funds.

**Why is January 2026 considered a key milestone?**

Don’t listen to hype; look directly at tangible progress:

**Developer ecosystem is about to explode.** In the second week of January, the DuskEVM mainnet will officially launch. The advanced privacy technology that was once only accessible to tech geeks is now available for all developers to build applications on. The entire ecosystem’s potential is suddenly unlocked.

**Real funds are flowing onto the chain.** Dusk is partnering with the Dutch compliant exchange NPEX to migrate over €300 million worth of securities assets directly onto the blockchain. Sign-ups for the January waitlist have already begun. This isn’t just a virtual fundraising promise; real funds are lining up to enter.

**Privacy and compliance can coexist.** The cleverness of the Hedger protocol lies in its ability to make transactions completely anonymous while still allowing regulators to verify through audits when needed. This design, which understands both technology and regulations, is what major institutions are willing to support.

**How can retail investors profit from this?**

Having strong technical capabilities doesn’t necessarily mean the token will rise, but DUSK’s tokenomics is centered around two core mechanisms—burning and locking. Continuous application demand will drive token consumption, and staking by ecosystem participants will lock liquidity. This logic is the fundamental support for maintaining the token’s price.