In 2025, Dusk will complete node upgrades, laying the foundation for the launch of DuskEVM mainnet. This upgrade is seen as a key milestone in the expansion of the Dusk ecosystem and also raises an unavoidable question: Is DuskEVM meant to be a "compliant twin" of Ethereum, or is it building an independent ecosystem based on compliant finance?

From a technical stack perspective, DuskEVM is fully compatible with Ethereum smart contracts, which offers a clear advantage—Ethereum's lending protocols, DEXs, and NFT projects can be seamlessly migrated, significantly lowering the development barrier. More importantly, DuskEVM has built-in features long-awaited by traditional financial institutions: on-chain smart contracts can call off-chain compliant asset modules to achieve an innovative combination of "lending + offline asset collateralization." Additionally, a "regulatory trigger clause" has been added at the contract level—if a transaction involves illegal activities, regulators can directly suspend the contract, which is highly attractive to traditional financial institutions.

However, the downside of compatibility is risk. If DuskEVM becomes a "compliant version clone" of Ethereum without unique application scenarios and user stickiness, how can it attract users away from Ethereum? Ethereum's moat is well-established—the large developer community, deep liquidity reserves, and mature application matrix. DuskEVM does not have advantages in these three dimensions. Forcing a direct confrontation with Ethereum in general tracks like DeFi and NFT is essentially a futile effort.

The only realistic path forward is to pursue a differentiated approach—focusing on compliant finance, institutional-grade applications, and specific vertical scenarios, rather than broadly copying the Ethereum ecosystem.