Mar 27, 20257 min readErgo Overview & FundamentalsIntermediate
What We're Fighting Against
The Financial Repression Stack — and what Ergo offers instead.
Ergo
financial repression
CBDC
KYC overreach
sanctions
freezing accounts
capital controls
censorship-resistant settlement
programmable privacy
Click to Enlarge
About This Infographic
This graphic lays out the "financial repression stack" – capital controls, frozen accounts, sanctions, KYC overreach and programmable CBDCs – and contrasts it with what Ergo offers instead.
The tower in the center shows how different tools, from capital controls up to CBDCs, all push in the same direction: less individual control over value. The right-hand callout makes it explicit: different mechanisms, same outcome.
Along the bottom, the Ergo bar highlights censorship-resistant settlement, programmability without gatekeepers and privacy on demand – positioning Ergo as infrastructure for people escaping financial choke points, not for those who profit from them.
The Financial Repression Stack
- Programmable restrictions (CBDCs) – Money that can expire, be blocked or steered by policy in real time.
- KYC overreach – Surveillance, data hoarding and denial of access for "unprofitable" users.
- Sanctions – Whole regions, industries or individuals cut off from global rails.
- Freezing accounts – Banks and platforms can lock funds at the flip of a switch.
- Capital controls – Restrictions on moving money across borders or into sound assets.
What Ergo Offers Instead
- Censorship-resistant settlement – PoW-based, non-custodial transactions that intermediaries cannot freeze.
- Programmability without gatekeepers – eUTXO, ErgoScript and Sigma Protocols to encode free-market rules on-chain.
- Privacy on demand – Opt-in tools for hiding flows and balances when exposure becomes a risk.
Key Points
Programmable restrictions (CBDCs) – Money that can expire, be blocked or steered by policy in real time.
KYC overreach – Surveillance, data hoarding and denial of access for "unprofitable" users.
Sanctions – Whole regions, industries or individuals cut off from global rails.
Freezing accounts – Banks and platforms can lock funds at the flip of a switch.
Capital controls – Restrictions on moving money across borders or into sound assets.
Ergo offers censorship-resistant settlement via PoW-based, non-custodial transactions.
Programmability without gatekeepers using eUTXO, ErgoScript and Sigma Protocols.
Privacy on demand with opt-in tools for hiding flows and balances.
How to Read This Infographic
01.
Start from the top of the stack (CBDCs) and move downward through KYC overreach, sanctions, frozen accounts and capital controls.
02.
Notice how each layer uses a different mechanism but pushes toward the same outcome: more central control over value.
03.
Read the "What Ergo offers instead" bar to see how censorship-resistant settlement, permissionless programmability and privacy on demand answer each layer.
04.
Connect the bottom line and footer (PoW, fair launch, no VC, cypherpunk tools) back to Ergo's broader philosophy.
Related Topics
CBDCs and financial control
Capital controls and sanctions regimes
Censorship-resistant settlement on Ergo
Sigma-based privacy tools on Ergo
Cypherpunk approaches to financial freedom
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
Embed this infographic
Copy the code below to use this infographic in your blog or website.
Please keep the link to ergoblockchain.org.
<a href="https://ergoblockchain.org/infographics/what-we-are-fighting-against-financial-repression-stack?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">
<img
src="https://ergoblockchain.org/infographics/what-we-are-fighting-against-financial-repression-stack.png"
alt="Infographic titled What We're Fighting Against showing a stacked tower of financial repression tools like CBDCs, KYC overreach, sanctions, freezing accounts and capital controls, contrasted with Ergo's censorship-resistant settlement, programmability without gatekeepers and privacy on demand."
style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border:0;"
loading="lazy"
/>
</a>
<p style="font-size:12px; color:#888;">
Source: <a href="https://ergoblockchain.org/infographics/what-we-are-fighting-against-financial-repression-stack?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ergoblockchain.org</a>
</p>Explore More Ergo Infographics
Discover visual guides to Ergo's PoW, eUTXO smart contracts, storage rent, privacy and more.
Browse All Infographics