**LOTTA CAPSTYPINGS***
Happy Saturday!
Just to be clear, you seem to be stating that a future where transaction fees being $100, $1000 or even more per on-chain tx is a distinct possibility?
That as a possibility is implicit in my thoughts, I'd say, yes.
OK, so here's the relevant followup question. When average tx fees are $1000, what is the typical profile of a person willing to run a non-mining validator? Let's start simple on this - how many tx per year might the average such person make?
I like where you are going.
But since the requirement for validating nodes is kept low it would continue to be in EVERYONE's best interest to run one. Even if I am not directly writing data to the block chain I would benefit by monitoring those who do. In fact monitoring the whale moves of banks, governments, and retired WO members would be of great sport and interest. Not just for security, but for knowledge. I used to think the Whale Alert accounts on twitter were a novelty, but they are actually an indicator.
People ran Seti@Home even though they got no green stamps from Martians for doing it, and same thing with the folding app for the genome. And I would say validating one of the most important ledgers on the planet would command MUCH greater incentive. Bitcoin is for enemies after all.
And as layer 2 is currently being built out people who run lightning nodes are STRONGLY incentivized to run a corresponding Bitcoin node. I think as second+ layer solutions are developed we will see more and more interest in that among a much wider group than the hobbyists (like me) who do now.
On top of that I think we will see mining hardware possibly become commoditised. As energy production changes BITCOIN is poised to soak up a lot of spotlight. This will most likely decentralize even MINING nodes. People with solar energy systems may be able to choose to sell excess energy to the grid, or instead use it on commodity ASIC hardware to produce Bitcoin. And by that time the price of energy will be at least joined at the hip with BTC production if not outright dictated by it.
What do you think?