[Research] Bitcoin After Block Rewards : preventing miner's deviation when the Bitcoin rewards is zero

The discussion on Bitcoin and its underlying operations emphasizes the critical role of miners as the fundamental primitive of the Bitcoin network. The paper rightly focuses on miners, avoiding the modeling of behavior for other entities such as exchanges, ETF issuers, custodians, and academia due to the lack of clear insights into their incentive structures. This approach is chosen to maintain clarity and preserve the quality of the research by not venturing into speculative analyses which might detract from the primary focus.

Regarding reserve capacity in the Bitcoin network, termed as 'dark capacity,' it is identified that this reserve could be activated to increase the hashrate as necessary. However, this capability also extends to potential attackers, suggesting a shift in the game-theoretic dynamics considered in this analysis. Consequently, this aspect is deemed more suitable for exploration under a different theoretical framework than that of the current paper.

The concept of eclipse attacks presents a valuable avenue for future research. Discussions around this topic are acknowledged as productive, indicating that explorations into network-level attacks on Bitcoin could benefit significantly from these insights. Nonetheless, this area requires a dedicated paper to delve deeply into the implications and strategies surrounding such attacks.

In terms of framing the issues within the Bitcoin ecosystem, the current work is positioned not as a limit case but as an essential analysis of the network's base layer. It's suggested that understanding and resolving the challenges at this foundational level is crucial before considering higher-layer games or scenarios, such as those involving stakeholder defenses or eclipse attacks.

Finally, there is openness to exploring additional topics suggested for future work. A methodical and conservative approach characterizes the current paper, aiming to lay a solid groundwork upon which further, risk-focused investigations can be built in subsequent studies.