Re: Gavin's blog, "Reworking Bitcoin Transaction Fees" -- some Qs and ideas

[nwbitcoin]

The problem as I see it is that you have a technical problem that is verging on being a social / business problem.  The trick for bitcoin is to stay away from business problems, and focus on the technical issue.

Worrying if something is profitable in the future isn't a problem you can fix now. What you can fix is some core rules that must be maintained to keep the system working.

This might mean creating an algorithm that calculates a fee based on the type of transaction.  For instance, do you want to use a percentage based on the value of the transaction, or a fixed figure for the work done? A fixed figure is far fairer and more likely to make the system cost effective based on number of transactions rising, increasing the profits for miners, if they make it work faster.

Another example might be if you want to make security an issue for miners, give them the responsibility for loses. Sounds harsh, but it does justify the fees in the long term as they find the transaction system becoming more efficient otherwise.

The rules that you put in place have to be simple enough to not be gamed, but carry enough risk that they have to be maintained.

I know I'm not providing answers, but I would like to help the growth of bitcoin in some way, and if these ideas help others put their ideas together, then I might have done my bit!

[markm]

You are aware that price discovery does not work with public goods?

If the theory of public goods was correct, the situation which motivated the creation of Bitcoin in the first place would never have arisen.

This is not the thread for it nor even, quite likely, the forum-section for it, but if you could actually explain / justify that claim it maybe would be nice to put the explanation / justification in the Economics section.

If you do put it there, do please notify me, as I long ago gave up peeking there hoping I might, unprompted, find there something worth reading or interesting to read.

-MarkM-