DuskEVM testnet's been live since Aug 10, and I spent the afternoon actually pushing a contract through it instead of just reading the docs. First surprise: chain ID 745. Second, bigger one: gas is paid in $DUSK , not some wrapped ETH placeholder, right from the eth_chainId call on rpc.testnet.evm.dusk.network. #dusk @Dusk clearly built this to feel like any other OP Stack chain — Foundry, Hardhat, standard tooling, verify on Blockscout, done.
Here's the thing that actually stuck with me though. The sequencer just executes plain EVM transactions like nothing special is happening. The batcher posts that data back to DuskDS as blobs — normal, transparent, visible. Hedger, the confidential-transaction layer everyone talks about when they mention Dusk's privacy pitch… it's not in this path. It's additional. Opt-in. Bolted on after the fact, not underneath.
So the "privacy-first regulated chain" narrative and what I actually deployed today are two different products right now. What ships by default is a transparent EVM chain that happens to settle to Dusk. The privacy stuff is the advanced mode, for later, for whoever bothers to reach for it.
Not a bad design choice necessarily — just not what the marketing copy implies is the starting point. Makes me wonder how many builders on here will even touch Hedger before mainnet, or just… won't bother.
Here's the thing that actually stuck with me though. The sequencer just executes plain EVM transactions like nothing special is happening. The batcher posts that data back to DuskDS as blobs — normal, transparent, visible. Hedger, the confidential-transaction layer everyone talks about when they mention Dusk's privacy pitch… it's not in this path. It's additional. Opt-in. Bolted on after the fact, not underneath.
So the "privacy-first regulated chain" narrative and what I actually deployed today are two different products right now. What ships by default is a transparent EVM chain that happens to settle to Dusk. The privacy stuff is the advanced mode, for later, for whoever bothers to reach for it.
Not a bad design choice necessarily — just not what the marketing copy implies is the starting point. Makes me wonder how many builders on here will even touch Hedger before mainnet, or just… won't bother.
