Cavil Zevran

@Vanarchain $VANRY #Vanar
Imagine you’re trying to build something big in Web3, but your AI agents keep forgetting what just happened. Feels like you’re stuck in a loop, right? That’s where a lot of projects hit a wall. Vanar Chain isn’t having it. Instead of chasing hype, they’re actually wiring intelligence straight into the heart of their blockchain. Their goal? Make on-chain apps smarter and more reliable, not just fast or flashy. Let’s dig into how Vanar is bridging the gap between programmable ledgers and truly adaptable systems—drawing on a solid tech stack and real-world integrations.
At its core, Vanar Chain runs as a modular, EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain. It’s built on a tweaked Go-Ethereum codebase, so you get speed and predictable performance—no more clogging up the pipes. That’s huge if you need things to run smoothly, not just chase wild price swings. And here’s a big one: Vanar’s carbon-neutral. It runs on green energy, so there’s no guilt trip for scaling your business. No greenwashing either—it’s built for efficiency that actually lines up with global standards. Companies get to expand in Web3 without having to worry about their environmental footprint.
But the real secret sauce is Vanar’s five-layer AI stack. This isn’t just another blockchain with AI sprinkled on top—it’s built for intelligence from the ground up. At the base, you’ve got the Vanar Chain itself: secure, scalable, high throughput. Then comes Neutron, which tackles AI’s memory problem. Neutron compresses data at crazy ratios—think 500:1—so even massive files like 4K videos or legal documents become tiny, queryable “data seeds.” These aren’t just sitting there—they’re on-chain and AI-readable, keeping context alive across every session. No more amnesia. No more lost insights. Neutron puts memory on a flywheel, letting knowledge build up and actually stick around for developers and users.

Next in line, Kayon handles reasoning. It’s a contextual engine that bakes AI logic right on-chain—no off-chain oracles, no outside compute, just pure on-chain smarts. That means things like compliance checks, automated decisions, and predictions happen right where the action is. For payments, Kayon validates transactions as they happen, blending crypto and traditional finance for smooth, agent-driven payments. And with Axon and Flows coming up, Vanar’s stack will automate even more, turning static dApps into living, breathing entities. None of this is patched on later—it’s AI-first, with infrastructure that keeps up as intelligent systems grow more demanding.
Where does all this lead? Look at Vanar’s ecosystem, especially in entertainment and gaming. Here, you can’t afford bugs or downtime. Projects like Virtua Metaverse and the VGN games network use Vanar’s tools to create immersive, AI-powered worlds. Fixed transaction fees—just half a cent—mean studios can actually budget, even with tons of tiny actions flying in from players. And Vanar’s RWA focus makes it easy to tokenize everything from brands to climate solutions, all with on-chain proof. They’ve already handled hundreds of millions of transactions and tens of millions of addresses—proof this thing scales during real, everyday use, not just random spikes.

Partnerships take it even further. Check out the deal with Worldpay, announced in Abu Dhabi in December 2025. That brings agentic payments to the table, connecting crypto with global settlement networks. They’d already started working together earlier that year, making it easier for enterprises to move money compliantly and with less friction. And with Saiprasad Raut coming on as Head of Payments Infrastructure in December 2025, Vanar’s adding serious experience from both traditional finance and crypto, guiding the chain toward hybrid solutions that real businesses need.
So why does Vanar stand out when everyone else is shouting about TPS? It’s simple: they’re not just doing things faster—they’re making them smarter. Instead of chains built for pure execution, Vanar focuses on memory, reasoning, and automation. That’s what AI agents actually need to work in the real world. Tools like myNeutron—already in the hands of the community—let your AI memory travel across apps, solving data fragmentation without trashing privacy or blowing up costs. This isn’t demo-ware. It’s infrastructure for real, lasting economic activity, from gaming to tokenized assets.
Bottom line: Vanar Chain is building a future where Web3 isn’t just quick on its feet—it’s intelligent. By weaving native smarts right into the chain, Vanar’s letting creators build apps that actually learn and adapt.

@Plasma $XPL #plasma
Picture this: you send money overseas as easily as shooting off a text. No banks cutting in, no surprise fees, no waiting around for funds to show up. That’s the world Plasma is working toward—not with buzzwords, but with real infrastructure that’s already shaking up how money moves. I’ve watched blockchain evolve from early Bitcoin experiments to the chaos of DeFi, and honestly, Plasma stands out. It’s a Layer 1 chain built for one thing: making stablecoins the go-to way to move money around the world. Here’s why that actually matters, and why I think it’s a big deal.
Plasma isn’t just another blockchain trying to be everything for everyone. It’s made for stablecoins—fast, predictable, rock-solid settlements. Most chains get bogged down with price swings or traffic jams, but Plasma is tuned for assets like USD₮. Thanks to its PlasmaBFT consensus, it locks in transactions in under a second. That’s not just tech talk. It means you can move money at the speed of the internet, settle over a thousand transfers per second, and still anchor security to Bitcoin through a native bridge. So, whether you’re sending remittances or running a company’s treasury, you get speed and trust. Plus, developers can plug in Ethereum tools thanks to a Rust-powered execution engine. The kicker? Users pay fees in the stablecoins they’re moving—no fuss with holding volatile tokens just to cover gas. It’s simple and efficient.

What really separates Plasma is its focus on scaling and reliability. It’s live in over 100 countries, supports more than 100 currencies, and connects with 200-plus payment methods. Forget the meme coin hype—this is about building the rails for a $306.8 billion stablecoin market. Just USD₮ alone holds more than half that, making up a real chunk of US money supply, and Plasma is right in the thick of it. It’s the fourth largest network by USD₮ balance, with $7 billion in managed deposits and $1.93 billion in stablecoins on-chain—most of that in USD₮. The volume is wild: $2.9 trillion in monthly stablecoin transactions, spread over 1.5 billion transfers. Plasma’s setup can handle that scale, no sweat, without cracking under pressure like old-school systems.

But Plasma isn’t building in a vacuum. It’s already hooked into a huge network—over 100 partners and counting. Fluid’s lending protocol lets people borrow efficiently, while Maple Finance’s SyrupUSD₮ vault holds $1.1 billion and gives institutions on-chain asset management. Rain Cards let people spend USD₮ at more than 150 million shops, and Oobit connects wallets to 100 million Visa merchants. In Southeast Asia, payment networks like LocalPay and Basal Pay reach millions of merchants and tap into Vietnam’s $14 billion remittance flows, converting USD₮ to local cash instantly. Big names—Kraken, Cobo—are on board too, offering cheap, fast rails for their users. And if you want yield? Axis runs arbitrage with USDx, while Daylight turns deposits into energy credits. These aren’t just ideas—they’re live, with adoption across over 200 million stablecoin wallets, including more than half holding USD₮.
Plasma’s architecture is tough and flexible. Its consensus system—think pipelined, HotStuff-style—keeps everything safe even if a chunk of validators misbehave, and it confirms transactions fast. Privacy features like shielded transfers keep things compliant for regulated finance, and built-in spam controls keep the network healthy. That’s why companies like MassPay handle payouts in 200+ countries, or AliXPay runs QR payments for 34 million shops across Southeast Asia. They even rolled out a Learn Center, breaking down everything from how stablecoins are issued and backed to how on-chain settlements work, all without talking down to people.
Crypto is full of empty promises, but Plasma is different. It’s turning stablecoins into everyday money you can actually use, not just stash. The mainnet beta has been live since September 2025, and new updates—like the Bitcoin bridge—keep rolling out. If you’re building in this space, or just want your money to move without borders, this is the kind of infrastructure that brings order to the chaos.

@Dusk $DUSK #Dusk
Ever notice how most crypto governance feels like you’re on stage with a spotlight, every vote and move wide open for all to see? For regular folks, maybe that’s fine, but for institutions? That kind of transparency is a problem. Front-running, pressure, or just regulatory heat—these risks scare off serious players. Dusk Network flips that whole scene. With privacy-first DAOs powered by zero-knowledge proofs, builders and voters can take part anonymously. The system keeps everything verifiable and still plays nice with the rules. It’s not just fancy tech talk—it’s the foundation for secure, open decision-making, and it’s already pulling in developers and institutions ready to shape the next chapter of on-chain finance.
What’s really happening under the hood? Dusk uses PLONK-based zero-knowledge proofs. This means you can prove you own tokens and your vote counts, but nobody sees your identity or how much you hold. Picture a DAO in charge of a tokenized fund. Members lock up DUSK tokens to vote on investments, but nobody can tell who voted for what. So, no fear of backlash or targeted attacks. Meanwhile, regulators get the transparency they need—audits under MiCA standards, and selective disclosure shows fairness without spilling all the details. Dusk’s Citadel protocol makes this even tighter, using reusable KYC credentials so only verified people get in, but they still hold onto their privacy. Compare that to typical Ethereum DAOs, where public votes often scare away the big players worried about leaks.

DUSK tokens aren’t just for paying fees. They’re your ticket to governance. Stake at least 1,000 DUSK, wait 12 hours, and you get to vote—no quick in-and-out speculators. Right now, about 37% of the 490 million circulating DUSK is staked across hundreds of network provisioners, locking in security and earning rewards over a 36-year emission schedule toward the 1 billion cap. Proposals move through privacy-boosted channels, with ZK-SBA (Zero-Knowledge Segmented Byzantine Agreement) making sure node selection is fair and random, not skewed toward whales. Poseidon hashes handle the randomness, so leadership can’t be gamed. It all adds up to DAOs that are actually decentralized and hard to manipulate.

But governance isn’t just code. The community side is alive and kicking. Every week, CEO Emanuele Francioni or CTO Hein Dauven hosts hangouts on Discord and YouTube, digging into everything—grants, hackathons, engineering updates. Recent AMAs covered dev experience, security audits, and modular upgrades, sparking fresh ideas for privacy dApps. Upcoming events? There’s a Jan 21 X Space with HTX at 11:00 UTC, where Autholykos and Hein Dauven will talk about compliant privacy. Or check out the Jan 14 TechTalk2030, where Hein and Andreas Schweizer broke down FinTech infrastructure. These aren’t just marketing—they’re open forums where feedback actually shapes stuff, like DuskVM’s new WASM optimizations for advanced privacy.
For builders, Dusk opens doors. Grant programs back hackathons that focus on real-world asset integrations—think tokenized green bonds with ZKPs quietly confirming environmental compliance, or SPVs for luxury assets like art or vintage cars, with anonymous DAO votes on custody. The Piecrust VM lets devs build complex, confidential contracts—dynamic quorums, weighted polls, you name it—without leaking sensitive data. The numbers show it’s catching on: about 160 daily transactions, and 4% are already shielded under Phoenix, so privacy use is on the rise as more DAOs launch.
What holds it all together? Dusk’s team has been grinding for seven years, through good markets and bad, building a system where governance is a strength, not a weakness. Institutions like Quantoz (for MiCA-approved EURQ) and Cordialsys (for compliant custody) are already using Dusk’s DAOs as safe, collaborative spaces—not something to be afraid of. As tokenized markets keep growing, Dusk’s privacy DAOs put it at the center of compliant, collaborative innovation—giving everyone a real voice, without putting themselves at risk, and building an ecosystem that’s ready for the big leagues.

@Walrus 🦭/acc $WAL #Walrus
AI keeps running into brick walls because it’s starved for data, while Web3 just sits there with mountains of untapped datasets. Walrus is smashing that barrier, flipping raw data into tokenized assets you can actually buy, sell, and verify on-chain. It’s not just another data warehouse—it’s a live marketplace where developers cash in on everything from machine learning models to community archives. The whole thing runs on Sui, so it plays nice with other chains. This is more than just clever tech; it’s a bet that data is the next oil, and the builders are already making bank.
So what makes Walrus tick? It’s all about blobs—a fancy way of saying huge, messy files. Think AI training sets, video libraries, or encrypted records. Walrus uses something called Red Stuff, a 2D erasure code that slices those files into shards and spreads them out across the network. That trick means you get 4.5 times the replication efficiency, and if you lose some chunks, recovery only pulls what’s missing. Costs stay manageable, at about 5x the original file size. But the real game changer is how they turn data into tokens. Thanks to their partnership with Itheum, you can mint this data as NFTs or fungible tokens—ready to move, trade, and verify without any middlemen. Picture AI agents on Talus tapping into tokenized datasets for instant training, or DeFi protocols trading financial models like stocks. Walrus makes all of that possible, and cryptographic commitments keep everything locked and tamper-proof.

Walrus isn’t just an idea—it’s live on mainnet since March 27, 2025. Mysten Labs founded it, and the Walrus Foundation just landed a massive $140 million round from the likes of Standard Crypto and a16z crypto. That money’s going straight into scaling up their storage network to handle enterprise-level loads. They’re also ramping up their RFP program, calling for new tools that certify blobs for Layer 2 proofs or layer on extra privacy with Seal’s encrypted controls. Seal adds access gates and compliance options, so developers can tokenize sensitive data and still meet regulations—a huge deal for AI-native apps where data ownership matters.
Now, the tokenomics. WAL—the native token—has a cap of 5 billion, with 1.6 billion already in circulation as of January 2026. WAL handles storage payments, staking for node ops, and governance votes. But in the data markets, it’s the fuel: Prepaid fees keep costs stable, and tokens get burned with every upload and extension, tightening supply as real usage grows. It’s a flywheel. More tokenized data means more trades, more activity, and stronger incentives for nodes to stay online and scale up. Builders win, too—shared blobs mean teams and communities can turn open datasets into revenue through smart contract royalties.

Recent wins show the buzz is real. The Haulout Hackathon just wrapped, and winner badges go live on DeepSurge profiles January 19, 2026—unlocking perks for folks building in ad tech and music. These aren’t just demos. We’re talking real products, like on-chain ad settlements or tokenized music catalogs you can host on wal.app’s decentralized platform. Wal.app nails the vision: Host projects like Flatland or Snowreads at Web2 prices, but with files as transferable objects that don’t go down if a server crashes. No servers, no hassle—just publish, grab a link, and watch the data economy come alive.
What’s Walrus’s real edge? Programmable data that lasts longer than any hype cycle. Tokenized assets plug straight into Sui’s object model for cheap, fast operations, and you can bridge them to Ethereum or Solana for cross-chain action. Enterprises get censorship-resistant storage. Developers get tools to tokenize and sell data without getting locked in. In a world where AI desperately needs high-quality data, Walrus gives you the marketplace where ownership shifts from closed silos to the people who actually create the data. This isn’t just storage—it’s the backbone of a new AI-powered economy, letting creators turn data into lasting value.

@Dusk $DUSK #Dusk
Picture a blockchain that actually keeps your financial moves private—locked up tight, but still lets regulators peek in just enough to keep things legal. No leaks, no exploits. That’s what Dusk Network’s been building since 2018 in Amsterdam, quietly turning regulatory headaches into smooth, secure rails for tokenized assets. While everyone else chases the next meme coin, Dusk’s team has stuck to the lab, perfecting zero-knowledge proofs and encrypted consensus. They want on-chain finance to feel like a fortress, not a fishbowl.
Let’s get into how they pull this off. Dusk’s Proof of Blind Bid is all about fairness. When you join in, you privately calculate a cryptographic score based on your hidden bid and a secret, all mixed up with the Poseidon hash for true randomness. If your score’s high enough, you propose a block—backed by a zero-knowledge proof that proves you followed the rules without revealing your cards. There’s no luck or manipulation here. It shuts out whales and front-runners, so every node—even the ones running on cheap hardware—gets a fair shot at leading, with no need to reveal their stake or identity. Blocks come every 10 seconds, forks barely ever happen, and the system’s designed for high-stakes, regulated assets where downtime or bias isn’t just inconvenient—it’s expensive.

Then there’s Phoenix, Dusk’s twist on the classic UTXO model. It’s a privacy engine that takes the usual setup and cranks it up. You can spend non-obfuscated outputs privately, hiding who’s involved, how much is moving, and what’s really going on, all thanks to zero-knowledge proofs and explicit state steps. Validators check balances and make sure everything adds up, but they don’t actually see the numbers. Execution costs adjust on the fly without leaking info—perfect for smart contracts that need to stay private on Dusk’s Rusk VM. In real life, this lets things like tokenized bonds or stocks move around invisibly, but still prove the math holds up: inputs always match outputs, so there’s no funny business. Look at recent data—160 transactions in 24 hours, with 96% public through Moonlight and 4% shielded via Phoenix. That’s not just theory; people actually use it.

The whole thing hangs on value conservation. Even when amounts are hidden, Dusk uses cryptographic commitments and zero-knowledge proofs to show no extra value sneaks in or out. Validators agree the transaction checks out—without ever seeing the amounts. This trust is built on solid math: completeness (honest proofs always work) and soundness (cheaters basically have zero chance). So you get strong privacy, but still meet rules like MiCA, where you need to prove AML/KYC compliance without oversharing. Dusk does this with tools like whitelistTree_poseidon—a Poseidon-based Merkle Tree that stores approved identities off-chain and lets you verify them with zero-knowledge proofs, no need to reveal public addresses.
Leader selection? Pure privacy. There’s no open lottery. Each round, scores come from secret bids, hidden secrets, round numbers, and steps—all Poseidon-hashed. Nobody can game the system or predict who’s up next. This protects against attacks and makes private staking possible in Dusk’s ZK-SBA (Zero-Knowledge Segmented Byzantine Agreement). You need at least 1,000 DUSK to stake, and it matures in about 12 hours—easy enough to get in, but safe. Mess up, and slashing starts at 10% and climbs from there. Right now, about 40% of the 490 million DUSK in circulation is staked, spread across hundreds of provisioners. Rewards get paid out over a 36-year schedule, all from a 1 billion token cap—no inflation surprises. And it all started with an $8 million ICO at just over four cents a token.
Block timestamps add another layer of security. Every block gets a UNIX time, which keeps bids valid, checks who’s allowed to stake, and keeps consensus tight—without leaking privacy. Smart contracts use this for replay protection and to make sure everything runs on time, anchoring confidential transactions to a timeline nobody can tamper with. On top of that, Citadel’s reusable identity proofs let you handle KYC with minimal info, all self-custodied. That means institutions can manage €300 million in NPEX-tokenized assets without losing sleep over data leaks or angry regulators.
What really sets Dusk apart is how it rewrites the rules of blockchain privacy. Old-school blockchains shout your every move, making you a target. Dusk just whispers proofs, letting you dial privacy up or down while keeping audit trails for compliance. You don’t get total anonymity; you get smart, selective privacy that’s actually legal. And after seven years of R&D, it’s not just a promise—it works. For developers building regulated apps, it means you can launch on a chain where cryptography takes care of the heavy lifting, from manipulation-resistant consensus to private DAOs with anonymous voting. As on-chain volumes keep rising, Dusk’s approach looks less like magic and more like the future.

@Walrus 🦭/acc $WAL #Walrus
Remember the last time you tried launching a simple dApp or storing files for your NFT project, only to run into clunky tools, crazy fees, or unreliable setups? It’s annoying. Walrus quietly fixes all that. It’s a developer-first protocol that makes everything—blob uploads, full-site hosting, even media storage—straightforward and predictable. Since going live on Sui’s mainnet on March 27, 2025, Walrus hasn’t chased buzz. It just delivers the kind of toolkit builders really want—so you can turn your ideas into real, production-ready apps without the usual Web3 headaches.
Walrus hands you the controls with simple CLI commands that do the heavy lifting. Need to store huge files like AI datasets or video archives? Just run ‘walrus store’ for single or batch uploads. You can group loads of files into a single transaction, which saves money and time. And that batch feature isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a core efficiency move, letting you push gigabytes without spamming the chain. Shared blobs go a step further: teams or communities can fund storage together, making it easy to extend durations or split costs for things like open-source repos or media libraries. Suddenly, solo expenses turn into group-powered persistence—perfect for hackathons or DAOs managing shared assets.

Privacy and control are built right in with Seal, Walrus’s encrypted access layer. You encrypt files before uploading, then control who gets access through on-chain policies. So your sensitive stuff—think proprietary models or user records—stays locked up and verifiable at the same time. It’s not afterthought security, it’s baked into the protocol. For media-heavy apps, Walrus serves content over HTTP with built-in caching, making NFTs or games load fast—immutable images and videos, available worldwide, without relying on a central server. And, the audits check out: no metadata tampering, no rogue mints, and verified code so you can build confidently.
Then there’s the RFP program, which really kicks innovation into gear. Walrus asks for proposals to fill ecosystem gaps—custom tools, integrations like data tokenization with Itheum, or AI agents via Talus. This isn’t just for show. The Haulout Hackathon ended with winners now showing off badges on DeepSurge profiles as of January 19, 2026, unlocking perks and getting attention for their builds in ad tech, music, and more. These aren’t just isolated wins—they help grow the whole ecosystem, drawing in more devs to experiment and ship. And with blob burning, you can reclaim fees on unused data with a quick CLI call, freeing up resources to keep building and scaling.

On the economic side, Walrus runs on its WAL token—about 1.6 billion out there now, out of a 5 billion max. You prepay storage fees in WAL for fixed terms, so your costs stay stable in fiat even if the market swings. Node operators stake WAL to join the network, earning bonuses based on uptime and capacity. That pushes for better hardware and competitive pricing, minus the usual volatility. Every upload or extension burns WAL, so the more the network grows, the tighter the economics. It’s a healthy loop: more usage means more burns, which keeps the system sustainable and ready for devs to scale up from prototypes to big enterprises.
If you want proof, check out wal.app. It hosts fully decentralized sites at prices that go toe-to-toe with Web2. Use any framework, publish, grab your object ID and URL—done. Platforms like Flatland, Snowreads, or Walrus Staking just keep running, even if nodes fail. No servers, no vendor lock-in—just resources you control. It even supports Layer 2, proving blob availability and handling things like massive validity or zero-knowledge proofs, which supercharge rollups without bloating the chain. For AI developers, it’s a whole new playground: you can tokenize datasets and trade them, with secure querying and updates built in.
Walrus makes usability the priority. Multi-stage epochs keep transitions smooth. Red Stuff encoding keeps storage overhead reasonable—about 5x raw size, with 4.5x replication for resilience and self-healing. It’s not about reinventing storage; it’s about making it so seamless you barely think about it. In a space full of friction, Walrus is the tool that’s turning Web3 from a wild experiment into something essential—one efficient upload at a time.

@Dusk $DUSK #Dusk
Imagine trillions in real-world assets moving onto the blockchain, but with privacy strong enough to keep big institutions comfortable. That’s not some far-off crypto promise—it’s what Dusk Network is building right now. Since 2018, this Amsterdam-based Layer-1 has skipped the hype cycles and focused on real R&D. While others chased trends, Dusk spent years figuring out regulated finance on-chain. Now, as of January 7, 2026, their mainnet is live, and it’s not just a demo. Big players like NPEX—a Dutch exchange with €300 million under management—are already jumping in.
What really makes Dusk stand out? Their obsession with privacy and compliance. We’re talking zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) built right into the protocol. Transactions stay confidential, but regulators can still audit them if needed. Their Hedger privacy engine mixes homomorphic encryption and zk-SNARKs, hiding amounts, addresses, and identities—yet everything checks out as valid. This isn’t the wild west of total anonymity. It’s privacy you control: institutions can protect their strategies from rivals, but still provide the proof needed for laws like MiCA or GDPR. For tokenized bonds, equities, and commodities, that’s huge. Too much transparency leaks sensitive info; too much secrecy just brings headaches from regulators. Dusk threads the needle.
Under the hood, Dusk is built like serious enterprise tech. It’s modular, with separate layers to keep risks contained and upgrades painless. At the core, you’ve got DuskDS doing settlement, consensus, and data availability—fast and cheap. Above that is DuskEVM, which is fully EVM-compatible, so Ethereum developers can use their usual tools and deploy Solidity contracts without drama. Soon, DuskVM will launch—a WASM-based engine built for privacy-first computing. The network supports two transaction types: Moonlight for public, account-based operations (easy for exchanges), and Phoenix for private, UTXO-style transfers using ZKPs. Phoenix actually extends the UTXO model for more complex systems, keeping execution costs private while maintaining solid finality through committee consensus.

In the real-world asset game, Dusk is moving fast. Their work with NPEX isn’t vaporware—they’re actually set to tokenize over €300 million in bonds and private equity, plugging right into regulated trading under the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime. Add Chainlink’s CCIP for cross-chain moves and Data Streams for real-time price feeds, and Dusk isn’t limited to its own corner. Tokenized securities can flow across Ethereum, Solana, and more. Picture issuing sovereign green bonds for environmental projects—ZKPs can prove compliance and green credentials without spilling sensitive details. Delivery-vs-Payment (DvP) smart contracts handle instant settlement, cutting out the old T+2 delays and slashing risk. Suddenly, luxury assets like art or classic cars can get tokenized via SPVs, all with legal protection and audit trails.
When it comes to consensus, Dusk uses Succinct Attestation—a committee-based proof-of-stake. Randomly chosen provisioners propose, validate, and ratify blocks, giving fast, reliable finality. Leader selection is fair: private scores from hidden bids, hashed through Poseidon, so no whales can rig the system. Zero-Knowledge Segmented Byzantine Agreement (ZK-SBA) adds another privacy layer for staking and node selection. Fees run on gas, paid in LUX (1 LUX = 10⁻⁹ DUSK). Unused gas gets refunded, and reverted transactions only charge for what they used—efficient and friendly for institutional volumes.
The DUSK token holds it all together. It covers fees, powers staking for security, and lets holders vote on governance. Supply is capped at 1 billion, with half released up front and the rest trickling out over decades as rewards. Right now, about 37% of tokens are staked, spread across hundreds of provisioners, showing real buy-in. Bridges to chains like BSC keep liquidity moving, with thousands holding wrapped tokens and plenty of activity. Here’s something interesting: 96% of transactions are public, while just 4% are shielded. That’s probably going to shift as more institutions jump in and privacy gets more valuable.

Finally, Dusk’s Citadel protocol takes self-custody to a new level. It lets users prove KYC credentials with minimal disclosure—a one-way mirror for audits, so you can stay compliant without giving up privacy.

@Walrus 🦭/acc $WAL #Walrus
Let’s be honest—AI and Web3 are hungry. Every day, AI models chew through mountains of data, while Web3 apps demand storage that doesn’t just disappear or get censored at the whim of some faceless cloud provider. In the middle of all this, there’s Walrus. It’s a chain-agnostic protocol built on Sui, but more importantly, it’s turning decentralized storage into something you can actually count on. Forget the empty buzzwords; people are already using Walrus to build smarter, tougher applications right now.
Here’s the crux: blockchains have always struggled with storing big, messy files—photos, videos, documents, those massive AI datasets. Regular chains just can’t handle it. Walrus sidesteps that problem. It uses a clever erasure coding scheme called Red Stuff—a two-dimensional, self-healing method that chops data into “slivers” and spreads them across independent nodes. The result? Not just redundancy, but real resilience. If some nodes drop off the map, Walrus only needs to move as much data as was lost. Overhead stays around 5x the original file size, so you’re not wasting resources. That balance makes it actually useful—data sticks around even when things go sideways, and you’re not paying through the nose for it.

Walrus hit mainnet in March 2025. It works in cycles called epochs, where staked committees handle storage promises. You upload your files, nodes slice and dice them, and no single party can access the whole thing. That means your data is both immutable and verifiable—cryptographic commitments tie every read back to one true version. For developers, this is a breath of fresh air: batch uploads through simple CLI commands like ‘walrus store’ cut down on transactions, so moving big datasets doesn’t break the bank. And with shared blobs, people can pool resources—think tokenized assets or community archives—spreading the cost and the power.
But here’s where Walrus really gets interesting: it’s programmable. Data doesn’t just sit there. You can plug it straight into smart contracts for all sorts of dynamic use cases. NFT metadata can serve up images through HTTP with caching, Layer 2s can verify execution proofs without stuffing the blockchain, the works. Privacy’s covered, too. Tools like Seal bring encrypted access controls, so apps can keep sensitive info locked down and play by the rules as regulations shift. Picture DeFi dashboards fetching live charts, games with assets that actually belong to players, or AI agents buying and selling datasets in real, verifiable markets. Walrus isn’t just storage—it’s the backbone for turning data into an asset, where you have real control and there’s no middleman taking a cut.
Take a closer look and you’ll see some serious tech under the hood. There’s an asynchronous challenge protocol—the first of its kind—that checks if nodes are behaving without forcing everyone onto the same schedule. Fraud proofs call out bad actors. Epoch transitions overlap writes and recoveries so the system doesn’t miss a beat, even if things get messy. Slashing is smart: if you mess up, you lose some stake, but always keep a bit, which keeps things fair and encourages people to play by the rules. Staking isn’t custodial, either—your assets stay yours. And as the network grows, so does its ability to govern itself, with voting power tied to real contributions.

Walrus scales up easily. With hundreds of nodes, high throughput, and smart incentives, it keeps latency and congestion in check. It fits right in with Sui’s object model, which means cheaper ops and no reliance on old-school providers. New features like blob burning let you reclaim fees for unused data, which keeps things lean and sustainable. In AI, Walrus is already powering markets where datasets become things you can actually buy, sell, or share, all without getting boxed in by one chain or app.
And it’s not just for the big stuff. Walrus makes it easy to host fully decentralized sites on wal.app. Build with your favorite framework, publish, and get back an object ID and URL. That’s it—sites that cost about the same as Web2, but with the resilience of Web3. No servers to babysit, no gatekeepers, just resources that move with you and survive outages. This is real infrastructure, not vaporware. As demand grows, Walrus handles it without wild price swings, turning data reliability into a self-sustaining engine.
At the end of the day, Walrus stands out because it cares about the things that matter: making sure every write and read is correct, building economics that keep data safe for the long haul, and putting developers first with open calls for new tools. It’s not chasing hype. It’s quietly building the kind of storage backbone that outlasts fads, regulations, and even the apps themselves. If you’re serious about building for AI or Web3, this is the foundation that lets you dream bigger without making compromises.