This week’s team hangout featured Thomas Bäcker, Software Engineer at Dusk, who shared his journey into the project and gave us a deeper look at the shift to DuskEVM.
We covered how the idea came to life, why it’s a bullish move, what it means for developers, and how Dusk’s architecture is being shaped to support real-world tokenization.
You can find a breakdown of the key questions and answers below 
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your background, what kind of projects or clients you worked with before Dusk, and what attracted you to join the team? What are you currently working on at Dusk?
Before joining Dusk, Thomas worked as a freelance software consultant, and built personal projects like crypto trading bots for arbitrage and derivatives. He wasn’t initially familiar with Dusk and was referred to the company. After sending in his GitHub, he had an in-depth conversation with Emanuele about Rust, BLS signatures, and Dusk’s vision. What convinced him to join was the mission, modernizing traditional finance using blockchain, which aligned closely with his own frustrations around legacy financial systems.
At Dusk, Thomas is now focused on DuskEVM and the suite of products being built around it, including tokenization flows, smart contracts, and user-facing portals. He often jumps between different areas depending on where help is needed.
Q: How did the DuskEVM idea come into view and gain traction internally? And why does Thomas see the shift as bullish?
The original idea for DuskEVM came from Hein, who introduced it in discussions about improving integrations and bridging. Over time, it came up repeatedly in various contexts and gained support internally, eventually becoming a strategic priority.
Thomas described the shift to DuskEVM as a “very bullish” move. He pointed out that the EVM ecosystem is now a de facto standard, with extensive tooling, developer familiarity, and a huge existing app layer. By building on this standard, Dusk avoids wasting time on redundant infrastructure work and can focus on launching real products faster. He sees it as a pragmatic and logical decision that opens the door to faster adoption and broader reach.
Q: For someone looking to build on Dusk, should they start with DuskEVM or native Dusk (DS)? And what’s changed the most from a development perspective since mainnet launch?
Most developers start with DuskEVM, especially given Dusk’s shift toward a modular architecture. While Dusk Forge (created by Hein) helps with native contract development on DuskDS, he noted that the majority of new applications will be built on DuskEVM, which serves as the primary execution layer.
He explained that DuskEVM is based on the EVM standard, which means developers benefit from a mature ecosystem, familiar tooling (like Solidity and MetaMask), and an abundance of online resources. In contrast, DuskDS is now more suited for specific low-level use cases like staking infrastructure.
Since the mainnet launch, the biggest shift has been moving from building infrastructure to focusing on real products and applications. The team is now working on bootstrapping a functional ecosystem on DuskEVM, apps that bring in users, liquidity, and real usage.
Q: How confident are you in the security of Dusk’s new modular structure? And is DuskEVM in any way resistant to quantum threats?
DuskEVM is built on Optimism, a rollup framework that’s already been widely audited and battle-tested. On top of that, the DuskDS base layer is being simplified, which makes it easier to understand, maintain, and secure. Overall, the architecture benefits from reduced complexity and proven foundations.
As for quantum resistance, while traditional cryptographic keys remain vulnerable, Dusk’s settlement process relies on fault proofs rather than zero-knowledge proofs. This approach avoids the cryptographic assumptions that quantum computing would typically threaten, offering a degree of resilience most chains don’t have.
Q: When do you expect to see real user traction on DuskEVM? And how important is something like EURQ to the ecosystem you’re building?
Real user traction will come from Dusk’s unique value proposition: tokenized RWAs and native issuance. He believes these are the key pull factors that will drive users into the ecosystem, not just speculative DeFi activity, but real-world use cases like buying and selling tokenized securities.
The team is actively speaking with launch partners and DeFi projects that can more easily deploy on Dusk thanks to EVM compatibility. Once DuskEVM is live, the goal is to bring these products to market quickly.
As for EURQ, Thomas said a stablecoin is essential for bootstrapping liquidity and enabling settlement across various applications, including DEXs and tokenized asset platforms. While he’s not directly involved, he expects it to follow closely after the DuskEVM launch.
Q: When do you think Dusk will be listed on tier-1 exchanges? Is there a plan for that?
Listings on major exchanges will be significantly easier once DuskEVM goes live. Because DuskEVM is EVM-compatible, most exchanges can support it with minimal effort, simply adjusting a few parameters, as opposed to integrating a custom chain like DuskDS.
Conversations with several exchanges are already underway and that EVM compatibility removes a lot of friction in the listing process.
Q: What do you think about implementing a token burn mechanism, or other ways to add utility to the Dusk token?
A token burn mechanism is seen as a potentially interesting way to drive value, but the priority is on building real utility into the token first. Rather than focusing purely on deflationary tactics, the approach is to ensure the token is meaningfully used across the ecosystem, for staking, governance, fees, and other protocol-level functions.
The team is open to mechanisms like burns or reward structures that support value accrual, but these need to be tied to actual usage and demand. The goal is to avoid gimmicks and instead create lasting, utility-driven value.
Watch the full recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJP9tL2FAZA
Have more questions? Drop them below and we’ll include them in a future session.
Join us live every Tuesday at 4:00 PM CEST in the Dusk Community
See you next week!