The Ergo Manifesto
Building Ergonomic Money for Regular People
Our Vision: The Ergo Manifesto hopes to educate and offer a vision of what blockchain technology can achieve. We hope to build society through horizontal cooperation through production under the division of labor, trade and exchange, and solidarity and mutual aid.
Our Core Mission
We believe this is achievable while maintaining basic principles that benefit the well-being of all humans. Core principles that have been central to human rights and values must be maintained as our technological capacities evolve.
"Cryptocurrency should provide tools to enrich ordinary people. Small businesses struggling to make ends meet, not big depersonalized financial capital."
— This is what inspired me. This is my dream.
The tools should allow people to make contracts (digital, self-enforcing, reasonable smart contracts) regardless of the differences in jurisdictions, traditions, followed business practices, etc.
Let's try to create grassroots finance.
Bitcoin Origins
"The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks."
— Bitcoin Genesis Block
This block timestamped both the inception of Bitcoin and the start of an era of technological and financial innovation. Simply put, this was the catalyst for a full-blown revolution.
Decentralization is political, giving birth to the idea that technology could replace monopolized powers. Systems could be put in place to transfer value globally without the need for intermediaries or oversight.
An entire industry formed around the idea of P2P commerce. Open, borderless and secure channels could potentially prove mechanisms to level the economic playing field and provide tools for prosperity for the average citizen of earth.
Current Market Mindset
The mentality of crypto markets shifted considerably after the ICO mania of 2017. It seems that the space as a whole has come to celebrate bailouts, printing, and stimulus.
The Problem: The original intent of the goals of cypherpunks is becoming increasingly diluted. The current market mentality seems to focus on: how do we honeypot new users with hype marketing, drive pumps and cannibalize these new members of communities.
We need to get back to the roots of the crypto-revolution, decentralized tools that are private and secure and drive real-world adoption of these systems. The ideal is to create tools that help people create value.
The Weaponization of Money
As central banks begin to enact a shift to Central Bank Digital Currencies, they may end up redefining the historical principles of the currency itself. I fear that money will be weaponized and turned into a tool of social control.
Three Critical Threats to Watch:
1. Programmable Expiration
CBDC with expiration dates or forced burning capabilities
2. Social Credit Integration
Connecting payment ability to social status or conformity
3. Market Censorship
Restricting spending in particular markets or services
Privacy
"Privacy protects the individual from society."
Privacy must remain an option to protect the individual, and it does not have to be forced; let people make their own choices.
Privacy is the ability to create barriers and erect boundaries to create a space for the individual. It is up to each what borders and boundaries they choose to make.
Financial privacy is especially vital because it can be the difference between survival and systematic suppression of an opposition group in a country with an authoritarian government.
Financial privacy can allow people to protect their life savings when a government tries to confiscate its citizens' wealth, whether for political, ethnic, religious or "merely" economic reasons.
Ergonomic Money
Definition: Ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with understanding the interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data, and methods to design and optimize human well-being and overall system performance.
Time and time again, economies implode, and those with financial tools cannibalize ordinary people's wealth and value. This is not ergonomic; it is predatory and monopolistic, and we need better tools.
The goal of Ergonomic money is to create money and smart contracts for all people. Those at the bottom have the greatest need for the tooling we are building.
Ergo Basic Principles
Ergo's Social Contract — The foundation of ergonomic money
Decentralization First
Avoid central points of failure. Spread power, grow community, educate users.
Open Permissionless and Secure
No restrictions on usage. Fully open source, auditable, and transparent.
Created for Regular People
Tools for ordinary people, not big corporations. Prevent mining centralization.
A Platform for Contractual Money
Efficient, secure financial contracts. Cost-competitive and accessible.
Long-term Focus
Built to survive. Resilient, adaptable, and secure through time.
Who is Kushti?
Alexander Chepurnoy (aka Kushti) is the core developer of Ergo Platform, and he has been active in blockchain development and smart contracts since 2011.
Experience
- • Core developer for NXT
- • Started smartcontract.com (now Chainlink) in 2014
- • IOHK researcher with 20+ academic papers
- • Creator of Scorex blockchain framework
Token Economics
- • Fair launch - no ICO
- • No pre-mined coins
- • Foundation treasury: 4.37%
- • Immutable economics
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