ERGO (ERG)

Introduction

Launched in 2019, Ergo is a project that boasts a programmable blockchain with an energy efficient and stable mining protocol. ERG currently trades at $8.34 per token with a capped supply of 97 million. Since not all tokens have been released yet, the current market cap of ERG is $268 million.

Overview

ERG belong to ERGO Ecosystem. The Ergo platform aims to provide an efficient, secure, and easy way to implement financial contracts that will be useful and survivable in the long term. Ergo describes itself as a self amendable protocol that reportedly allows it to absorb new ideas and improve itself in a decentralized manner.
 

Ergo is a proof-of-work (PoW) smart contract platform notable for its lack of a pre-mine or an initial coin offering, its research-driven approach, and its connection to the Cardano network. It is a secure blockchain with decentralized finance (DeFi) features. It’s goal is to combine Ethereum’s best features with those of Bitcoin. Ergo has modified the legacy PoW consensus protocol to use Autolykos, a self-developed unique PoW consensus protocol.

Ergo hopes that Autolykos will mitigate the threat of mining pools controlling more than 51% of a network’s computational power, threatening decentralization and security. Ergo’s distinct approach to PoW is best exemplified by its storage rent implementation, which aims to reintroduce stagnant and lost coins into circulation in order to support the sustainability of future mining rewards.

When ERG first went public in October 2018, it was worth about $1.78. The cryptocurrency spent much of the next year trading between $1 and $3, with a spike to more than $5 in February and another spike to an all-time high of $44.06 on July 1, 2019. Following that, it plummeted, reaching an all-time low of $0.09398 on March 13, 2020. However, the market bloomed in early 2021, and ERG followed suit, reaching a high of $19.60 on 18 May. Following that, a market crash caused the coin to fall to $3.97 on July 20. This was followed by a recovery, with ERG trading at $19.25 on September 2nd. For the most part, it was all downhill from there and the coin closed 2021 at $4.83.

Alex Chepurnoy - Ergo founder

Background

Lead developer Alexander Chepurnoy created this crypto project. As a blockchain veteran who has been developing crypto related software, Chepurnoy has written and published numerous papers on blockchain technology over the years. Prior to creating Ergo, he worked as a researcher at IOHK, an engineering and research company best known for creating Cardano.
 
In 2019, he partnered with Dmitry Meshkov, a fellow researcher at IOHK, to develop Ergo, which was officially launched at the beginning of July 2019. When this project first began, Chepurnoy stated that it was made to deliver extensive smart contracts as well as ample security features.
 
The team consists of Computer Scientists Alexander Chepurnoy and Dmitry Meshkov.
 

Tokenomics

ERG is a supply capped coin. Its total and maximum supply are specified at 97.74 million. The entire supply will be released by around 2045. ERG’s total supply will be distributed mostly to miners as block rewards (around 95%), with some minor shares (around 5%) going to the project’s treasury.
 
Ergo (ERG) ERC20 Token.
 
Total Supply and Distribution:
Its total and maximum supply are specified at 97.74 million. The entire supply will be released by around 2045.
 
Use cases:
 
Safe, simple financial contracts: Ergo enables new models of financial interaction, underpinned by smart contracts built on flexible and powerful Sigma protocols but easily accessible to developers.
 
 
Money for hard times: With superior support for light clients but no compromise in security, Ergo is ideally suited to use in locations with limited internet connectivity, or where bandwidth and storage are an issue. With support for alternative financial systems that can be accessed safely from any device, Ergo is a natural choice for failing states and economies.
 
 
Digital gold: Just like Bitcoin, Ergo has digital scarcity. There is a limited supply, mined into existence through Proof of Work. In this respect, Ergo is a conservative blockchain. However, additional features are designed to ensure that miners are adequately compensated after block rewards end.
 
The best place to buy ERGO is Bitpanda and it offers a user friendly platform where you can easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies.  Another option to buy Ergo is Gate.io. 
 
Ergo Price since launch
  • Market Cap: $81,682,643.68

  • Circulating Supply: 58,638,426 ERG

  • Supply Cap: 97,739,925 ERG

  • All-time High: $44.06 July 01, 2019-96.83%

  • All-time Low: $0.09398 March 13, 2020 1383.88%

Features and Functionality 

ERGO is a decentralized blockchain platform that aims to provide secure, efficient, and programmable financial contracts and applications. It is designed to be a self sustaining and resilient platform that supports smart contracts and decentralized applications while prioritizing security and scalability.

Risks and Challenges

  • Most major crypto exchanges haven’t listed Ergo yet because not a lot of people know about Ergo yet so its trading volume is low. 
  •  It uses proof of Work: Proof of work itself might get targeted by public since it’s already pretty demonized when you look at general population vs Bitcoin mining.
     
  • Ergo have many Competitors like: CryptoDiscover , Coindelta , and Global Blockchain Academy.

Advantages of Ergo

  • Ergo is a programmable blockchain without gas fees
     
  • Efficiency and Reliability
     
  •  Ergo has a strong team behind it. 
     
  •  POW is no longer an issue for Ergo as it has been proven to be good for the environment and grid balancing.
     
Ergo hashrate after the merge

Conclusion

Ergo is a project that combines a modified version of the Proof of work protocol with smart contracts. The modified PoW protocol is more energy efficient due to its limited mining size and resistance to large mining pools and mining equipment. With this PoW protocol, Ergo has miners who process and validate transactions. Once the block rewards are reduced to zero, the incentives will be sourced from transaction fees and storage fees. The Ergo programmable blockchain does not require gas or transaction fees like Ethereum, thereby lowering the entry threshold for developers looking to develop applications on the platform.

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