Enabling Computational Democratization: A Proof-of-Stake Bounty System for User-Proposed Problems and Solutions

Abstract

Traditional proof-of-work (PoW) based cryptocurrencies require miners to solve hash functions, resulting in enormous energy waste. Proof-of-stake (PoS) is an energy-efficient alternative to PoW. However, PoS alone fails to create incentives for PoW miners to switch away from PoW due to their existing hardware investments that provide a competitive financial advantage. Thus, we introduce a framework that replaces energy wasted on PoW cryptocurrencies with a modified PoS consensus mechanism that allows miners to be rewarded for solving user-proposed problems. This mechanism could serve as a decentralized cloud computing platform.