I've seen a few people talk about using bitcoin to act as a kind of anti-spam anti-bot measure. An "Orange Check" that could be applied to a user that has staked some BTC to their online account, acting as a unique digital identity that simultaneously places a large cost burden on bot farms. Since I haven't encountered more than the idea, I drew up a proposal for an implementation. I'm posting this to get feedback, see if perhaps this will be worth spending my limited free time developing implementation software.
Orange Check Implementation
User makes or participates in a time-locked transaction on-chain.
Using a user controlled address holding a UTXO from that transaction, the user signs a message using the verification format below.
User posts the message, and the signature of the message, publicly as the user they wish to verify on the platform in question. The UTXO is the user's Verified Output Identification (VOID), the signed message and signature is the Verified Proof, taken together they make up a user's VOID-proof.
Platforms use the VOID-proofs of users as their primary identity, and either require all users to have one, or allow users to filter out any/all messages from anyone without one. If a user with a VOID-proof turns out to be a bot or engages in spamming users, that VOID can be blacklisted.
Verification Format:
Platform: <Platform name>
User: <Username>
Address: <Address that controls the UTXO>
TXID: <TXID of the transaction that created the UTXO>
Timelock: <Date-Time the transaction becomes unlocked>Pros of this system:
Trust-less. No need to trust a platform to not walk away with your money or other forms of misuse, since they never receive it.
Costly to abuse. Since VOID's are time-locked, preferably for years, a blacklisted VOID is a sunk cost for bad actors, so repeat offenders are going to rapidly develop significant costs. This is the whole point.
Multi-use. A VOID could be used for multiple VOID-proofs on several platforms, or an ID service could have a VOID-proof that could be used by multiple platforms. A VOID could also be used for backup identity verification as an anti-hacking measure.
Potentially low fees/on-chain bandwidth. Creating VOIDs could easily be done in P2P coordinated batches, distributing even rather high fees to make them minimal per user. Long time-lock windows could make such batches infrequent to process.
No physical identity required.
Cons of this system:
Useless as a security deposit for merchants wishing to establish trust through guarantee.
Newly established VOIDs could easily be bots/bad actors, additional steps would need to be taken to verify they are human.
Stolen keys = stolen identity (the nigh unsolvable problem)
Potentially exploitable by custodial companies; they might begin to offer services around making VOID-proofs that undercut the system. A hacker that gained access to a custodian could also gain control all of the VOIDs for identity theft or similar.
Other notes:
The core of the signature system can already be accomplished with every self-custody wallet software I've used, probably all of them (certainly all worth using).
Establishing a P2P batching process for making VOIDs is one area that would require a specific software solution. Software that would allow for rapidly checking VOID-proofs by verifying signatures and cross-referencing the blockchain would also be ideal and similarly require development.
Despite regularly using the term "platform" there is no reason an email provider or third party ID service couldn't use a VOID-proof to certify an email address.
Requires the participation of the platforms, or third party applications that in some way enhance those platforms, to provide any real benefit. Unless VOID-proofs are independently verified and that verification used to provide some benefit, there is little point in establishing one.
I appreciate any constructive criticism.
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