can you move the merit button to the left side of the quote(/edit/delete) buttons?
A good idea. Often-used functions should be placed in more accessible spots. Probably also the post number should be moved.Greetings from 2100, the new forum software is nice.
I do hope it happens only then. 
New-style forum software is annoying. The current design is light on resources, compatible with older browsers, generally works without JavaScript, provides good information density.The overall problem here is that professional spammers will utilize their network of spammers and finances to circumvent the merit system, whereas non-professional spammers will be stopped in their tracks.
I assume non-pro spammers are the large majority, so the new system still solves most of it.How is decaying sMerit an incentive if there is no reward to sending or holding sMerit in the first place?
The reward is improved forum content.Besides, what's the reward for clicking "Like" on Facebook? If anything, there's a larger penalty to that: letting Facebook and the potentially the world track your proclivities, linked to your real identity.
The minimum to credit should be 0.00000001 merit. At least with respect to Bitcoin. 
Lols, then we should have a maximum of 21 million merit points on this forum. Once we reach that number no more points getting "mined".