I dont know what the foundation has in mind when we get to a point where validators no longer get the current block reward subsidy.
There’s some potential future paths to take when block rewards run dry:
- block transaction fees is enough to entice validators to keep running infra, then this is the happy case
- block transaction fees is NOT enough to entice validators to keep running infra, this is the scary case
In scenario 2 where transaction fees alone is not enough, then lets break this into two hypotheticals:
2a. the network flops and nobody wants to use the network, thats why fees are trivial, in this world, we should just shutter the network
2b. the network is still successful and people do use the network, but we scaled the technology so much that we have 500M gas blocks and fees are trivial due to tech being too good
In scenario 2b, it’s interesting because direct gas fees are trivial but the network as a whole is still very valuable. In that case, I would imagine operators like me who do arbitrage, liquidations, and other DEFI on the network will come in and just subsidize the validator infra bill and provide validators as a public utility.
I think as long as the network has a healthy amount of user and real activity, someone is going to come in and keep the lights on for the global validator & public RPC infra. A healthy network = a healthy DEFI ecosystem for arbitrage, market making, and liquidators.