Dec 8, 20254 min readComparisons & MatricesIntermediate

Ergo vs Zcash: ZK Without Ceremony

Sigma-based privacy and smart contracts without trusted setup.

Ergo

Zcash

Sigma Protocols

zero-knowledge

trusted setup

privacy

DeFi

smart contracts

Infographic titled “Ergo vs Zcash: ZK Without Ceremony”. On the left, a glowing Sigma Protocols diagram for Ergo with no trusted setup. On the right, a robed ceremony around a pedestal and furnace labeled toxic waste and key destruction for Zcash trusted setup, plus three comparison blocks for trusted setup, smart contracts & DeFi, and privacy model.

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About This Infographic

This infographic compares Ergo and Zcash through the lens of their underlying zero-knowledge technology and trust assumptions.

On the Ergo side, Sigma Protocols provide ZK proofs without any trusted setup ceremony, enabling a trustless base for programmable privacy and smart contracts.

On the Zcash side, the design historically relies on multi-party trusted setup ceremonies and toxic waste destruction for its shielded pools, which introduces additional trust and operational complexity.

Trusted setup vs trustless ZK

Ergo: Sigma Protocols with no trusted setup ceremony required.
Zcash: historically depends on elaborate trusted setup ceremonies and secure destruction of toxic waste.
Removing trusted setup reduces systemic risk and eliminates a central point of failure for privacy guarantees.

Smart contracts and private DeFi

ErgoScript + Sigma Protocols allow building private, composable DeFi on a UTXO ledger.
Developers can encode complex access conditions, ring-like privacy patterns and advanced contracts directly at L1.
Zcash supports shielded transfers but lacks a broad, native smart-contract DeFi ecosystem.

Privacy model in practice

Ergo integrates programmable privacy with contracts, enabling rich use cases beyond payments.
Zcash focuses on opt-in payment privacy for addresses and transactions.
For builders choosing a ZK platform, the difference between payment-only privacy and programmable privacy is critical.

Key Points

Ergo uses Sigma Protocols and does not require any trusted setup ceremony.

Zcash historically relies on trusted setups for its shielded pools, including toxic waste that must be securely destroyed.

Ergo combines ErgoScript and Sigma Protocols to enable programmable private DeFi and complex contracts on UTXO.

Zcash primarily focuses on shielded transfers for payments and does not have the same breadth of smart-contract DeFi.

Ergo’s privacy model is integrated with UTXO contracts, while Zcash provides opt-in shielded addresses mainly for payment flows.

How to Read This Infographic

01.

Start with the top half: compare the visual models of Sigma Protocols on Ergo versus the trusted setup ceremony imagery for Zcash.

02.

Then move to the three comparison blocks at the bottom that break things down into trusted setup, smart contracts & DeFi, and privacy model.

03.

Use these sections to understand both the cryptographic trust assumptions and the practical implications for building private DeFi on each chain.

Usage Guidelines

• You can use this infographic in presentations, blog posts, or educational materials
• Please keep the attribution link to ergoblockchain.org
• For custom branding or editable files, contact the Ergo community

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