I know that the amount of energy used by proof of work isn't that much, but the fact that all of the calculating power used for it is going to waste, have been bothering me for years.
With the upcoming Ethereum merge, and the amount of mining power that will be seeking a new purpose, I've been thinking about: How can we use this mining power in a useful way.
I'm sure there are tons of people that have already thought of this idea, but I couldn't find it anywhere with a simple google search, therefore I've decided to share it here and start the conversation.
My idea is: Simply renting the computation power on our mining devices, to those that need it for something like rendering or AI training.
They'll pay for it with the blockchains native currency. The currency mined accumulates locked (staked), This staked work will be used in a system akin to proof of stake, to verify transactions in a randomized pool, before it's unlocked and available to the miners. Misbehaving miners get their staked work slashed.
The two entangled supply and demand for coins and work, should keep the mining power offered on the affordable side, and the native currency in demand.
The fact that all of the coins mined have to come out of somebody's pocket, should prevent any desire to fake a job or mining operation to gain the system. There would be no gains to do cheat the system when the blockchain counts the calculations and charges the client for it. That brings up the initial distribution issue.
The initial coin distribution is a tough cookie to crack, so far I haven't seen a method that can't be abused. The best I can think of is minting the coins by a Decentralized Autonomous Organization that votes for minting new coins, and distribute it automatically between the miners, in an attempt to keep the coin's value constant.
Keeping the price constant, and making work mandatory for staking should keep the traders at bay, ensuring a healthy ecosystem that thrives on providing a useful service for a reasonable investment.
Holding and hoarding the coins wouldn't yield any profit beyond a moderate inflation hedge either. The power to regulate the market remains with the miners, no matter how much of the coin those greedy hedge founds take control of. And the miners have every intensive to keep their services in the sweet spot of accessible and profitable.
Such a solution should allow the transfer of cheap/renewable electricity across the world, over internet as a form of labor, and warming cold homes with other people's renders.
The only concern would be keeping track of the calculations done for a client to prevent a dispute between them and miners. I guess the smart contracts should get smarter and learn how to count all types of calculations, convert them to a common unit, and check if the miner have done the job correctly. That is certainly for the brains that run on coffee to figure out.
I know there wouldn't be that many that read this post, but let me have it if you have something to say about it. Point out flaws and mistakes, or suggest something.
