Dec 16, 20254 min readComparisons & MatricesIntermediate

Ergo vs Bitcoin: Bitcoin With the Missing Pieces

From simple UTXO money to programmable, sustainable PoW DeFi.

Ergo

Bitcoin

UTXO

eUTXO

smart contracts

Sigma Protocols

storage rent

privacy

PoW

NiPoPoWs

Infographic titled “Ergo vs Bitcoin: Bitcoin With the Missing Pieces”. On the left, an Ergo brick made of stacked layers for eUTXO money, smart contracts, privacy and sustainability; on the right, a simple Bitcoin UTXO brick with ghosted missing layers for smart contracts, privacy and sustainability, plus five comparison panels for state model, L1 privacy, long-term security & storage, use-cases and light clients.

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About This Infographic

This infographic treats Bitcoin as the original UTXO money brick and shows how Ergo adds the missing layers needed for programmable, sustainable PoW DeFi.

Ergo keeps the PoW sound-money foundation but extends it with eUTXO programmability via ErgoScript and Sigma Protocols, native L1 privacy and protocol-level storage rent.

Bitcoin remains a simple, robust UTXO system optimized for store-of-value and payments, but without native smart contracts, L1 privacy or a built-in mechanism for long-term state sustainability.

State Model & Programmability

Ergo: Programmable eUTXO with ErgoScript and Sigma Protocols for complex contracts.
Bitcoin: UTXO without native smart contracts, focusing on simple, robust transfers.
Programmability determines whether the chain can host rich DeFi and application logic directly on L1.

Privacy, Security & Storage

Ergo: Native, programmable L1 privacy via Sigma Protocols plus storage rent to recycle inactive UTXOs.
Bitcoin: No native L1 privacy and no built-in storage rent, leading to reliance on external tools and unbounded state growth.
These features affect both user privacy guarantees and the long-term sustainability of the ledger.

Use-cases & Light Clients

Ergo: Sound money plus DeFi, stablecoins, DEXes and programmable contracts, with NiPoPoWs for ultra-light verification.
Bitcoin: Primarily store of value and payments, with SPV and heavier client models.
The broader feature stack on Ergo opens up more on-chain use-cases while still anchoring to PoW sound money.

Key Points

Ergo uses a programmable eUTXO model with ErgoScript and Sigma Protocols, while Bitcoin’s UTXO model lacks native smart contracts.

Ergo offers native, programmable L1 privacy via Sigma Protocols; Bitcoin has no L1 privacy and relies on external tools and heuristics.

Ergo implements storage rent to recycle inactive UTXOs and support miner incentives; Bitcoin has infinite state growth with no built-in storage rent.

Ergo’s use-cases include sound money plus DeFi, stablecoins, DEXes and programmable contracts, versus Bitcoin’s focus on store of value and payments.

Ergo supports ultra-light clients via NiPoPoWs; Bitcoin typically uses SPV and heavier client models.

How to Read This Infographic

01.

Start with the brick visuals: the Ergo brick stacks layers for money, smart contracts, privacy and sustainability, while the Bitcoin brick shows only simple UTXO money with missing upper layers.

02.

Then scan the five panels at the bottom—state model & programmability, L1 privacy, long-term security & storage, use-cases and light clients—to see how each layer translates into concrete differences.

03.

Use this comparison to understand how Ergo positions itself as “Bitcoin with the missing pieces” for programmable DeFi and long-term sustainability, while still preserving PoW sound-money roots.

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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