Incentivising Performance

For event relay, it is not enough that messages are eventually delivered - the speed and reliability of delivery is also important. This depends on Seeker Nodes running sufficient infrastructure to deliver relay requests as soon as possible, and therefore on the level of investment that Seeker Nodes make in their infrastructure.

Because Nodes have no relationship with the peers requesting service, they are inclined to invest just enough in their infrastructure to maximize their personal profit. By contrast, the service providers in a centralized setting share in the benefits that come from providing high quality service, because they are financially aligned. This means that without further incentivisation, the economically rational level of service provided by nodes would be lower than that provided by centralized alternatives.

Because of this, it is not enough to incentivise the eventual delivery of a relay request - in addition:

1. The timeliness of relay delivery must be directly incentivized.

2. Node's must be incentivized to make a good-faith effort to complete all work assigned to them, regardless of how likely each piece of work is to be profitable.