All this vote buying, selling , and trading is such a hassle for our poor witnesses, and now there's even a middle man trying to get a piece of the pie.

As the top 21 witness positions are determined by the stake of a select few plus some underhanded dealings anyway, wouldn't it be far easier to simply auction off the top 21 witness positions twice a year and add the proceeds to the reward pool?

It would spread a little money around, and it would probably yield about the same list of witnesses we have now, with the added benefit of being transparent and showing what a witness position is actually worth.

Anyway, the article that probably triggered your post was edited into the dark nether and looks quite different now.