Permissionless?

This is not financial advice. Ergo has strong fundamentals: fair launch (no VC dump risk), innovative technology (eUTXO, Sigma Protocols, NiPoPoWs), active development, and a cypherpunk ethos. It's a smaller market cap project with higher risk/reward than established chains. Research thoroughly, understand the technology, and never invest more than you can afford to lose.

Building DeFi on Ergo starts with understanding the eUTXO model and ErgoScript. Unlike account-based chains, Ergo's box model provides deterministic execution, no MEV by design, and predictable gas costs. Use Oracle Pools for price feeds, and leverage existing patterns from Spectrum Finance and SigmaUSD.

Ergo offers structural advantages for DeFi: no MEV extraction, deterministic gas costs, and no reentrancy attacks due to eUTXO. Ethereum has larger ecosystem and liquidity. Choose Ergo for security-critical applications, fair trading, and predictable costs. Choose Ethereum for maximum composability with existing protocols.

Different privacy models for different needs. Monero provides always-on, protocol-level privacy with ring signatures. Ergo offers optional privacy via Sigma Protocols with selective disclosure - you can prove things about data without revealing the data. Ergo excels at programmable privacy (private smart contracts), while Monero excels at simple private transfers.