Can we program a smart contract that rewards tokens to bitcoin miners who mine empty blocks?
A bitcoin transaction uses an estimated 20,000 times more energy than a VISA transaction. Bitcoiners have no desire to do anything about it and merely badmouth those who bring the issue up. Whether we like it or not, the value of cryptocurrencies increases by virtue of their dominance. Bitcoin derives a lot of its value from the fact that it's the largest cryptocurrency. The economic system of the future will be built around one cryptocurrency. It's likely going to be either Bitcoin or Ethereum.
Vitalik Buterin has spent years working on a solution that will allow us to move away from Proof of Work towards a truly energy efficient cryptocurrency. We now live in a window of opportunity, during which the world decides what protocol will become the dominant cryptocurrency. Will it be a protocol that uses 20,000 times more energy than a credit card transaction, or will it be a protocol that's truly intended to make the world a better place? At current growth rates, Bitcoin would consume all of the world's electricity by 2020. It's easy to laugh at this, but the worst case projections in 2016 estimated that by 2020, Bitcoin would use the energy consumed by Denmark. That didn't happen in 2020. It happened this year.
My suggestion is very simple: We have to maximize the chance that a cryptocurrency not based on Proof of Work will win this race for global domination. Ethereum is fine to me, for purely pragmatic concerns. Vitalik Buterin is a wise young man and the protocol he developed stands the best chance of dethroning Bitcoin, so I'm all in favor of using Ethereum for this goal.
To maximize the chances of Ethereum winning, we need the competition to lose. This might not be politically correct, but it's true nonetheless. Bitcoin's loss is our gain. To improve Ethereum's chances, it would be useful to find ways to harm Bitcoin. My suggestion is as following: Design a protocol that allows you to deliver a financial incentive to Bitcoin miners to mine (almost) empty blocks. Bitcoin's Achilles heel is its transaction capacity limit. When faced with an enemy, you need to hit the enemy where it hurts.
So my question is very simple: Does the Ethereum smart contract function allow us to design a decentralized protocol that distributes tokens to people who mine empty blocks? If we can create a financial incentive for empty block attacks against Bitcoin, empty blocks will follow, with a price decline as a consequence, triggering a positive feedback loop as people will try to cash out and Bitcoin begins to fall apart. The main problem I see right now is how we would go about giving the token value, which is why I am trying to get other people interested in my idea.
I am looking for people who are willing to help me develop this project. Who wants to help me?
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