ErgoHack III: Building Tomorrow's Privacy and Security Tools

Ergo is a proof-of-work, open source smart contract platform based on grassroots economic principles. When founders Alex Chepurnoy and Dimitry Meshkov designed the platform, infrastructure choices were made to build a scalable, secure and flexible public blockchain. 

Ergo uses the extended UTXO (eUTXO) model as its base design choice so the logic is different from the Accounts model. The eUTXO model provides higher security and privacy options than Accounts because the addresses are made from one-time use UTXO boxes. Ergo's Multi-Stage Contracts on this UTXO model are written in Ergo’s native ErgoScript, and are based on Sigma Protocols to implement non-interactive zero-knowledge contracts at high security.

ErgoScript utilizes a subset of Scala (an acronym for Scalable Language), to support a fast, flexible and secure design. Scala is both an object-oriented and functional new language running on Java Virtual Machine. The learning curve can be steeper when compared to learning Java because it is a newer language and developer tools are still being developed. Once you get used to ErgoScript, you will feel at ease in your coding experience with the easy-to-read syntax and strong fault tolerance. Recently, Twitter switched from Ruby to Scala as its main language. Their coders expressed that Scala is an easy to refactor scalable language, which consists of more than one way to approach the same problems.

To code in ErgoScript, you do not yet need to be proficient in Scala, as you will be able to get on board pretty quickly with our developer resources. Ergo also has libraries for developers of JavaScript, TypeScript and Phyton to assist in starting your first dApp idea. For the backend stack, Ergo is developing Rust libraries.

Join, Learn, Build and Earn

ErgoHack III: Privacy and Security aims to incentivize developers to build the tools and applications that will empower the use cases of decentralized finance. Public blockchains are transparent and verifiable, therefore the users are at risk of being targeted by malicious actors. On-chain surveillance is a reality and hackers can be tempted to profit off of people if they learn of a wallet owner's identity.

That's why we (as individuals) need the tools, security implementations, wallets and privacy designs to guard ourselves. Privacy should be optional, with not only institutions but individuals being able to access various options. For a blockchain to be ergonomic, these tools need to be accessible for all.

We suggest you explore Sigmaverse to get a sense of the dApps that are live, as well as those in development.

• ErgoHack III will take place from February 11-13, 2022
• Registrations are open until January 31, 2022

The winners of the ErgoHack III will share a prize pool of 18K SigUSD:

• 1st Prize : 10K SigUSD
• 2nd Prize: 6K SigUSD
• 3rd Prize : 2K SigUSD

Additional prizes include several honorable mentions worth 200 SigUSD

To apply, every applicant needs a proposal that should include:

• A brief explanation of the skillsets of each team member and why they are important to the proposal.
• A brief explanation about the project and the solutions it will develop.
• A summary of any prep-work as well as any potential hurdles you foresee (if any)
• A brief explanation of the steps you envision necessary to complete the project (can be listed as bullet points).

 Register Here

If you do not have a team yet, join our Discord and check i-need-a-team to find like-minded people with you. If you have any other questions, please reach us so we can help.