BIP: TBD
Title: Paid Promotion and Spam Mitigation via Bitcoin Burn
Author: [Author Name]
Status: Draft
Type: Informational
Created: 2025-05-01
License: BSD-2-Clause

## Abstract

This document proposes a framework for monetizing spam and unsolicited promotional content within the Bitcoin Core GitHub repository by introducing a Bitcoin burn mechanism. Under this proposal, invalid BIP submissions, promotional pull requests, and advertising comments will be allowed to remain open (as a pull request or issue) temporarily if accompanied by proof of significant Bitcoin sacrifice. This approach aims to deter abuse, fund attention cost, and align incentives by giving attackers a release valve in the form of temporary paid advertisement.

## Motivation

The Bitcoin Core project and BIP workflow are frequently interrupted by low-effort promotional submissions, scammy proposals, and irrelevant commentary. Spam and harassment are currently made free of charge and directly harm the ecosystem. This distracts and demotivates Bitcoin developers and contributors with unwanted, unsolicited noise.

Rather than maintain an unpaid moderation burden, this BIP proposes that overt spam, ads, and promotional pull requests be treated as monetizable attention bids. By converting abuse into a voluntary economic sacrifice, we turn a liability into a resource. Spam becomes fundraising. Harassment becomes a donation. This puts a smile on everyone's face, even while closing another ridiculous PR.

## Specification

This policy applies **only** to content deemed promotional, spammy, off-topic, or annoyingly commercial in nature. Non promotional protocol proposals or contributions are not subject to this mechanism.

To qualify for limited-time visibility, the submitter must:
- Include a verifiable Proof-of-Burn to a standard unspendable Bitcoin address (e.g., `1BurnBTC4NoRefundxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX`).
- Reference the transaction ID clearly within the submission (comment, issue, or pull request).

### Proposed Monetization Schedule

| Submission Type                                              | BTC Burn Required | Duration or Benefit                          |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| Main README Sponsorship Banner (e.g., "SPONSORED BY ETH")   | 10 BTC/month      | Visible in repo README                      |
| PR - immunity from closure                                   |                   |                                             |
|  - 24 hours                                                  | 0.05 BTC          |                                             |
|  - 48 hours                                                  | 0.15 BTC          |                                             |
|  - 1 week                                                    | 0.25 BTC          |                                             |
|  - 1 month                                                   | 1 BTC             |                                             |
| GitHub comment spam or advertisement                         | 0.1 BTC           | Not auto-deleted                            |
| Off-topic mailing list post                                  | 1 BTC             | Not flagged or filtered                     |
| BIP draft or code review request for ad/spam/altcoin content | 2 BTC             | 1 review by Core developer, no guarantees   |

Submissions meeting burn requirements:
- Are tagged as `paid-promotion`.
- Are temporarily immune from automatic moderation.
- Are clearly marked as promotional to avoid confusion with protocol development.

## Rationale

Spam and unsolicited promotion degrade the quality of open development spaces and disproportionately impact volunteer contributors. Historically, these behaviors have been free -- costing time and energy for maintainers without penalty.

This proposal introduces economic cost to these activities, converting harassment and attention-seeking into public value through permanent Bitcoin sacrifice. No funds are collected; instead, coins are destroyed. This prevents centralization, profiteering, and abuse, while aligning incentives across the ecosystem.

Rather than censorship, this is pricing. Rather than resistance, it is revenue. The more someone wants to yell into the void, the more they have to pay to do so. And everyone else gets a little richer.

## Backward Compatibility

This BIP affects only repository moderation policy and does not propose any changes to the Bitcoin protocol or network behavior. It is fully backward compatible with existing systems and standards.

## Reference Implementation

An example GitHub bot may:
- Monitor new pull requests and issues for spam indicators.
- Detect and verify declared Proof-of-Burns.
- Apply `paid-promotion` labels to compliant submissions.
- Automatically close non-compliant promotional submissions after a short delay.

Optional functionality could include:
- Burn leaderboard for transparency and ridicule.
- UI badge indicating BTC burned per submission.
- Sponsorship banner rotator for active high-tier burns.

## Changelog

- **2025-05-01**: Initial draft.

## Copyright

This BIP is licensed under the BSD 2-Clause License.

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let new users post anything, then DrahtBot replies and says hey your comment will be automoderated in 10 minutes unless you [Click here] and that's just a basic pulse check to make sure they are not a (dumb) bot. They might still be a bot, of course. It can also notify them of the BTC burn requirements.

could implement that "pay to spam" system on a manual basis on the mailing lists, at least.


501c3 idea has been discussed before and has lots of problems like:
- who operates that fund?
- who decides where that money goes?
- why them? why doesn't someone else get to decide?
- there is no bitcoin org and no bitcoin core org and no decision makers, and creating one would be contrary to the very nature of bitcoin itself and otherwise be legally implausible or perilous for bitcoin
Burning is simple and doesn't require any answers to those questions.