Looking at Dusk's on-chain staking data is quite interesting. Currently, the staked DUSK on the chain stabilizes at around 120 million (total supply 1 billion), with an annualized yield of about 3%-4%. To be honest, this yield isn't very attractive in today's L1 ecosystem—major projects have staking APYs already exceeding 10%.

What’s more disheartening is the entry barrier. Want to become a validator and participate in block production? No, you must pass KYC verification. This means ordinary stakers are basically excluded from participation. On the surface, "low returns + high threshold" is a double blow, easily discouraging people.

But from another perspective, this actually indicates that Dusk is consciously filtering its users. It doesn't want farmers chasing APY who withdraw liquidity tomorrow after earning today. The real target audience is two groups: one is long-term supporters who believe in the project from a systemic level; the other is compliant institutions, such as European tech companies and licensed custodians.

Data confirms this. There are only about 1,100 active staking addresses, but over 60% of holdings are above 100,000 tokens, and the lock-up periods generally exceed 180 days. This is not typical retail behavior—it's the standard for institutions and deep believers.

In this scenario, the DUSK token isn't just a yield tool; it's more like a trust certificate. Locking in real funds essentially says: I endorse this "native system" paradigm.

Looking at the broader market context makes it even more interesting. Everyone is frantically acquiring new users and burning money to boost TVL. Dusk, on the other hand, takes the opposite approach—using low yields and high thresholds to maintain user quality. It may seem out of place at first glance, but this "counter-growth" strategy might be the real way to survive through cycles.