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Question, what happens to the ledger (Blockchain) if the miners (accountants) no longer get paid for mining Bitcoin? (Asked with respect)

• erikpukinskis 12y ago
  Transaction fees.
  • kolev 12y ago
    Won't this deincentivize Bitcoin commerce significantly though?
    • wmf 12y ago
      Yes, unless off-chain systems are developed. It's also possible that transaction fees will stay low and miners will just stop mining.
      • kolev 12y ago
        The off-chain systems are a workaround. And I doubt they will be cost-free.
    • gwern 12y ago
      Maybe, maybe not. Right now, anyone using Bitcoin pays for use through a) constant inflation of the monetary base through mining rewards, and b) transaction fees, for a+b. Once (a) disappears, (b) will rise... but will the new b be bigger or smaller? Given the inflexibility of mining rewards and the rarity of double-spends in the wild, it may well be that right now the block reward is wastefully high.