Understanding the security budget

I agree.

But I see this being ultimately viewed a little differently. I think staking rewards are going to be minimal in the long run and I think stake pool profitability, from just Ada rewards, will reduce to almost zero so that it just covers running costs.

I think Ada will be used as security for many other uses in combination with staking. Stake pools will be able to use their capital to provide security for many additional opt-in services. Side chains are one example where their staked Ada can be effectively providing security for both the Cardano base layer and the side chain at the same time. Stake pools will be able to earn additional revenue from these supported side chains. There could be multiple additional such services and the exact same Ada is being used as security for all at the same time.

Rather than seeing transaction fees as a wealth transfer to those with more capital. I think they are just fees and these fees will be driven down through competition. And capital will still be able to earn a yield dependent on demand, but this has always been the case. And it doesn’t matter how that capital was obtained - whether through being an early investor in something or by inventing some new gizmo.

If you are looking for a wealth transfer: Just tax the high earners more and transfer this money to pay for public services and to those in need.

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