Miners Reward => Transaction Discount

[melacs]

I am not very tech savvy and I have no idea how it can be implemented, but:

Would it be possible to give miners a discount on transaction fees, rather than a reward.

In that sense all merchants or users of bitcoin would have benefits from mining. It would make sense to mine or run a node to support the network even if one does not have the hash power to reap in the rewards. (This would mean more honest miners believing in bitcoin, rather than dubious mining pools who might go to 51% anytime)

In the current model, the hashpower is outsourced to mining pools who collect the fees (and rewards), while the average bitcoin joe pays transaction fees. It would make sense if the average joe's computer supporting the network would be enough for him to not have to pay transaction fees (or at least pay less).

When one thinks of the internet, servers are run everywhere. They use electricity for the owners, but there are still benefits.
The sad thing about the bitcoin network is that it is a lottery based system leading to an arms race.

Anyway, just looking to start a discussion here.

[minerva]

It isn't really an arms race.
It's a rat race, a race to the bottom.

[ning]

Switching from:

"I wanna make more coins."

to:

"I wanna have a discount on transaction fees for my future transactions, if any."

doesn't make a lot of sense:)

Also, technically, miners with enough hashing power can include their own transactions without a fee.

[Sukrim]

I still wonder why larger pools don't do this... Also they seem to use bitcoind default rules and settings far too often for my taste.