> Furthermore, if we use a proof-of-work system that's shared with an actual cryptocurrency, so as to actually get payment from these hashes, then we have a new

> Furthermore, if we use a proof-of-work system that's shared with an actual cryptocurrency, so as to actually get payment from these hashes, then we have a new problem: ASICs. Cryptocurrencies have to be secured by a globally agreed-upon hash function, and changing that global consensus to a new hash function is very difficult. And those hashes have economic value. So it makes lots of sense to go build custom hardware just to crack hashes faster and claim more of the inflation schedule and on-chain fees. > If ASICs exist for a given hash function, then proof-of-work fails at both: > - Being an antispam system, since spammers will have better hardware than legitimate users[3] > - Being a billing system, since legitimate users won't be able to mine enough crypto to pay any economically viable amount of money Monero/XMR & Zcash break this part of the argument, along with ASIC/GPU-resistant algorithms in general (Argon2 being most well-known & recommended as a KDF). Creating an ASIC-resistant coin is not impossible, as shown by XMR. The difficult part comes from creating & sustaining the network surrounding the coin, and those two are amongst the few that have done both. Furthermore, there's little actual need to create another coin to do so when XMR fulfills that niche. ------ > If you don't insist on using proof-of-work as billing, and only as antispam, then you can invent whatever tortured mess of a hash function is incompatible with commonly available mining ASICs. And since they don't have to be globally agreed-upon, everyone can use a different, incompatible hash function. Counterpoint: People (and devs) want a pre-packaged solution that solves the mentioned antispam problem. For almost everyone, Anubis does its job as intended. https://github.com/TecharoHQ/anubis https://github.com/TecharoHQ/anubis