Dec 7, 20254 min readComparisons & MatricesIntermediate

Where Ergo Fits Among Major Chains

Sound money, smart contracts, and privacy in one PoW L1.

Ergo

Bitcoin

Ethereum

Monero

Zcash

Cardano

Solana

CBDCs

VC chains

fair launch

PoW vs PoS

privacy

DeFi

smart contracts

Click to Enlarge

About This Infographic

This infographic maps the major L1 ecosystems on a two-axis matrix: programmability and privacy on the vertical axis, and launch and power structure on the horizontal axis.

Ergo sits in the top-left corner: a fair-launch PoW chain with strong programmability and privacy, combining cypherpunk sound money roots with smart contracts and DeFi.

By contrast, VC-backed PoS chains and CBDCs cluster on the right side of the chart, where control, surveillance and foundation or state power dominate the design.

Why Ergo Sits in This Corner

Fair-launch PoW with no ICO, no premine and no VC rounds.
Smart contracts and DeFi on eUTXO using ErgoScript for complex dApps.
Programmable privacy via Sigma Protocols at the L1 level.
Long-term sustainability through storage rent and research-driven protocol design.

Key Points

Ergo combines fair-launch PoW, smart contracts and programmable privacy in one L1.

Bitcoin and Monero provide strong sound money and payment privacy, but with limited programmability.

Ethereum, Cardano, Solana and typical VC L1s focus on smart contracts and DeFi, but rely on PoS and foundation or VC-driven governance.

CBDCs sit in the far-right corner as fully programmable but centrally controlled and surveilled money.

How to Read This Infographic

01.

Look at the horizontal axis: the further left a project is, the closer it is to fair-launch PoW and cypherpunk money roots; the further right, the more VC, foundation or state control.

02.

Then check the vertical axis: the higher a project sits, the more it combines programmability, DeFi and privacy; the lower it is, the more it is focused on simple payments only.

03.

Ergo’s highlighted orange region shows the unique combination of PoW sound money, advanced smart contracts and programmable privacy at the L1 level.

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.
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    src="https://ergoblockchain.org/og/infographics/where-ergo-fits-among-major-chains.png"
    alt="Matrix-style scatterplot titled “Where Ergo Fits Among Major Chains”, showing Ergo in the top-left DeFi and privacy corner, contrasted with Bitcoin, Monero, Zcash, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, typical VC chains and CBDCs along axes for programmability & privacy versus launch & power structure."
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<p style="font-size:12px; color:#888;">
  Source: <a href="https://ergoblockchain.org/infographics/where-ergo-fits-among-major-chains?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ergoblockchain.org</a>
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