This week’s team hangout touched on topics such as: MiCA’s enforcement across the EU and Dusk’s approach to regulation, to questions around OpenZeppelin, real estate tokenization, and the role of Dusk in primary markets.
Emmanuele also gave clear answers on how Dusk differs from app-first L2s like Robinhood’s new launch, and what’s next for composability, tokenized stocks, and protocol-level access.
You can find a breakdown of the key questions and answers below 
Q1: What are your thoughts on MiCA going into full effect today?
MiCA coming into force is a positive milestone, it brings much-needed regulatory clarity after years of uncertainty. But it’s important to remember that MiCA is a directive, not a fixed law. Each EU member state will implement it differently, which means the interpretation can still vary widely.
MiCA focuses on regulating Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs), the gateways between Web2 and Web3. It’s primarily concerned with things like stablecoins (due to monetary supply risks) and preventing circumvention of AML laws. It does not regulate decentralized protocols directly.
MiCA does not dictate what happens in the decentralized world, and it complements rather than replaces MiFID, especially when it comes to securities.
It’s a step forward, but far from the final word. The regulatory landscape is still evolving, and MiCA is just the beginning.
Q2: Are we working with OpenZeppelin?
We’ve been in touch with the OpenZeppelin team for quite some time, since EthCC in Brussels, if I recall correctly. I’ve always been impressed by their professionalism and the quality of their dev tooling, which is widely considered a standard in Web3 development.
We’ve been exploring ways to integrate their tools and avoid reinventing the wheel. With Dusk becoming EVM-compatible, using OpenZeppelin’s tooling makes a lot of sense. They’ve also shown strong interest in tokenization, and given our focus on privacy and zero-knowledge, there’s clear alignment.
We’re actively working toward doing something together.
Q3: What do you think about Robinhood launching an L2 for stock trading in the EU? Any impact on Dusk?
There’s no real impact on Dusk. It’s important to distinguish between apps and protocols. Robinhood launching an L2 is essentially an application play, it doesn’t change the underlying structure of regulated finance.
What we’re building is fundamentally different. Dusk is a protocol with direct access to licenses. Those licenses aren’t tied to a single app, they apply across the entire protocol, giving every app built on Dusk the ability to operate within a compliant framework. That’s not something you get with most rollups or tokenization plays.
When Robinhood or others tokenize assets, those assets stay within their walled gardens. With Dusk, tokenized securities can be composed across DeFi, wrapped for privacy, and accessed by any compliant app or user on the network. We’re building an infrastructure layer for compliant, composable on-chain finance.
Q4: Will third parties be able to permissionlessly deploy their own rollups on Dusk DS?
Not in the near term, and that’s a conscious choice. We’re a focused team, so we have to prioritize.
Right now, our focus is launching assets as soon as possible. That’s why we’re starting with Dusk EVM. Over time, we’ll separate the execution layer and build DuskVM, a privacy-preserving layer on top of Dusk DS. Supporting external rollups or modular deployments might happen later, but it’s not our goal right now.
Unlike Celestia or other modular systems that aim to be rollup hubs, we’re building purposefully, capturing real-world value, offering compliant access, and enabling meaningful use of tokenized securities in DeFi. That’s the mission.
Q5: Will Dusk be involved in real estate tokenization?
I’m not a fan of it, at least not as a priority. Real estate tokenization sounds exciting on the surface, but in practice, it’s illiquid, low-yield, and often hype-driven. The barriers to tokenize are low, which also means the value is low.
Especially in places like Dubai, the market is inflated, driven more by money laundering than by fundamentals. And even if you tokenize a property, what’s the point if there’s no real secondary market or yield?
We’re focused on liquid, programmable assets like treasuries and bonds. If someone shows up with a legit $7B project and real liquidity that flows through regulated venues like NPEX, I’ll listen. But until then focus is key.
Q6: How would the security deposit for native issuance of securities in the primary market look like on Dusk?
There are two layers here. In the future, when primary issuance happens directly on the protocol, issuers will likely need to lock Dusk tokens as a security depositm instead of paying fiat fees. But we’re not there yet.
Right now, the priority is on secondary markets. We already have assets coming, and we want to onboard them efficiently. NPEX, through its EU crowdfunding license, can handle primary issuance and fundraising on behalf of others. That’s the fastest route.
Over time, primary market activity may move on-chain. When that happens, yes, we’ll structure the process so issuers acquire and lock Dusk tokens, but the real value is in the connectivity: access to users, apps, and compliant infrastructure.
Q7: Will Dusk have a role in the retail stock tokenization market, or is it focused on institutional assets like bonds and private equity?
We’re working on it. Thanks to NPEX’s broker license, we can extract and tokenize publicly traded stocks from traditional venues and offer them to a broader audience, including retail.
The vision is to enable fractional ownership, partial self-custody, and direct access, without needing a wealth manager. But technically, it’s complex. Brokers operate on Web2 rails with limited hours, and integrating payments, custody, and trading flows isn’t trivial.
So while it’s on the roadmap, right now we’re prioritizing venues already working with tokenized assets and compliant DLT setups (21x & others). Public stock tokenization will come, but we’re taking a staged approach.
Watch the full recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjrmNZhtHaE
Got more questions? Drop them below and we’ll queue them up for the next session.
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See you next week!