Consensus & Mining
Beginner
Updated 11/26/2025
What is
Proof-of-Work?
A consensus mechanism where miners expend computational energy to secure the network and validate transactions.
Proof-of-Work (PoW) is a consensus mechanism where miners compete to solve cryptographic puzzles, expending real-world energy to secure the blockchain. Ergo uses Autolykos PoW, which is memory-hard and GPU-friendly. PoW provides strong censorship resistance because anyone can mine without permission.
Key Points
- Miners expend energy to secure network
- Strongest censorship resistance
- Permissionless participation
- Ergo uses Autolykos (GPU-friendly)
- No staking requirements or lockups
- Proven security model (Bitcoin)
Use Cases
1
Securing the Ergo blockchain
2
Fair coin distribution through mining
3
Censorship-resistant transaction processing
4
Decentralized network consensus
Technical Details
In PoW, miners hash block headers until finding a value below the difficulty target. This requires significant computation but verification is instant. Ergo's Autolykos adds memory-hardness (~2.5GB), making ASICs uneconomical while remaining efficient on consumer GPUs.
Related Infographics
Related Articles
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about Proof-of-Work
Common questions about this topic
Is Ergo safe and secure?
Yes, Ergo is highly secure. It uses Proof-of-Work (the same security model as Bitcoin), has never been hacked, and the eUTXO model eliminates entire classes of smart contract vulnerabilities. The code is open-source and peer-reviewed. Your security also depends on proper seed phrase management.
Explainer
Getting Started
What is the best GPU for Ergo mining?
For Ergo mining, GPUs with high memory bandwidth perform best. Popular choices include NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti, 3070, 3080, and AMD RX 6800 XT. Minimum 4GB VRAM required. The best GPU depends on your budget, electricity cost, and availability. Efficiency (hashrate per watt) matters more than raw hashrate.
Explainer
Mining
How to use Spectrum DEX on Ergo?
Connect your Nautilus wallet to Spectrum Finance, select tokens to swap, review the rate and slippage, then confirm. Spectrum uses AMM liquidity pools for instant trades. You can also provide liquidity to earn fees. All trades are atomic - they complete fully or not at all, with no front-running possible.
How-to
DeFi
Why does Ergo's fair launch matter?
Ergo had no pre-mine, no ICO, no VC allocation. 100% of ERG comes from mining. This means no insiders dumping on you, no VCs controlling governance, no foundation with majority stake. Fair launch creates genuine decentralization - the network belongs to miners and users, not early investors seeking exit liquidity.
Philosophy
Philosophy