I was also very surprised about where the ceiling is.. I mean even an orca does not make it above the threshold, only two orcas voting with 100% will make the job.. so I was not aware that the threshold would be so high and I am not aware of any publication before explaining it.. I had the impression that the threshold would be around 10 cents or so...
And yes.. this will propel bid bot use further.. an am am pretty sure this is not a good thing...