Proof of Burn++: Turning Every Block into a Bidding War

TL;DR: What if burning STEEM gave a player exclusive in-game assets, achievements, or usage rights?

I built a prototype that demonstrates how historical and current token burns can be converted into an automated airdrop and competitive mechanism for usage rights in Steem games.

Once usage rights are granted, there's a wide variety of ways that they can be used. A simple example is described.

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Introduction

Some years ago, someone created a Steem app that was linked to a real-world mechanical whale (if I remember right) somewhere in Europe. If Steem users sent tokens, the mechanical whale would shoot water out of its spout in some harbor somewhere. At this point, I don't remember who did it or where, but I always thought that this was the beginning of a good idea that could be applied to token burning, even if it was constrained by the limited geographic appeal.

Unfortunately, it took a long time until I imagined a way to take it to the logical next step. Yesterday, I had an idea, though. So, I spent a few hours with my AI buddies to create a prototype (mostly on the cell phone while watching TV).

Here's what I came up with.

Proof of Burn++ (PoB++)

What is it?

The idea is simple. I'm imagining five different ways that someone can use burning to win in-game usage rights for a particular block:

1. Be the account to burn the most STEEM via transfer in the block.
2. Be the account to burn the most SBDs via transfer in the block.
3. Be the account to burn the most STEEM via beneficiary rewards in the block.
4. Be the account to burn the most SBDs via beneficiary rewards in the block.
5. Be the account to burn the most VESTs via beneficiary rewards in the block.
   (Only the first two were implemented in the prototype)

Once the in-game usage rights are granted, they can apply to almost anything.

• A strategy game could map the block number and other information to seed a random selection a type of asset or character.
• A virtual world could use it as a seed for real estate assets.
• A digital card game could use it to seed the cards in a player's deck, and so on.
• In today's prototype example, I simply created badges and a summary report so that people who burn rewards can accumulate badges for bragging rights.
• All of this is possible on basically any public blockchain that supports burning, but Steem also makes it possible for players to post about the game activity and earn rewards, for example - when a player gains control of a rare type of block.
• Someone might even create an in-game exchange where the usage rights can be traded...

Why do this, instead of having the players send tokens straight to the developer?

1. Independent developers can capitalize and build on each other's momentum.
2. People have already been burning tokens for years, so this creates a natural airdrop capability.
3. It should generate good will and support from Steem investors.
4. The possibilities are not mutually exclusive. Developers can also setup complementery in-game direct payments.
5. It may help to defend the value of the developer's own holdings and rewards.

On to the prototype

I wanted something I could create quickly and easily as a demo, so I decided to build on the block numbers, themselves. It started with blocks whose block numbers are prime, and I worked with the AI to come up with a bunch of new categories. The app simply scans the account's transaction history (thanks to SDS from @steemchiller).

Here's what it looks like.

As you can see, at the present time, the @remlaps2 account has already been airdropped usage rights for 1,143 blocks of various categories, including more than 500 each of the common even and odd blocks as well as 4 rare blocks that had 6 of the same digit and 1 block that had 8 of the same digit (Block #1,777,777,677).

There is a lot of complexity for beneficiary rewards (SBDs printing vs. not printing, 100% powerup posts, etc.) so I did not include that information in the demo. This little demo game only issues badges to people for their burn transfers.

There can only be two winners for each block. The account that burned the most STEEM, and the account that burned the most SBDs.

The repo is here: phoenix-prime, and the demo page is here: Phoenix Prime on Steem, but it should run anywhere, I guess.

Interestingly, even a simple game like this already introduces potential elements of competition and strategy. People can compete to have the highest number in desired categories, and they may want to start looking at the block numbers and timing their transfers to land on a specific block.

For example, looking at the current block number, I see an opportunity to compete for a block with a "full house" (sevens over zeroes). It's fairly easy to target acquisition of "centuries" or even "millenniums".

Now, if I want to extend the application further, the usage rights for those blocks could be used to allocate capabilities to players. i.e. You must control a "Phoenix Prime" block before you can proceed to the final level.

Conclusion

So, there's the demo. Obviously, this is a very thin implementation. The idea here was just to illustrate the concept. The important points are that this concept can be exploited by games of all types, and that it's possible to use retroactive token burning to power an airdrop for players.

Visit the site and see what kind of block usage rights have been airdropped to your account!

Thank you for your time and attention