No campaign can be effective without the active participation of the bounty hunters, i think this mouse cat play will continue between the bounty hunters and project owners because both try to out smart eachother, this will continue untill there is some kind of strict rules or escrow service between them.
You are correct, escrow service will really be a game changer on the part of the bounty hunter though it has downsides but it will give bounties the assurance of getting their payment, I have seen some bounty managers working on the bounty escrow and i believe soon a lot will adopt it.