[sanswork]

And all I'm saying is it doesn't matter how Bitcoin does it. The problems being solved are different. Bitcoin has to use a stupidly inefficient method of selecting who adds the next block because the participants aren't known. That's it. The proof of work waste adds nothing else to the security of the system except when you don't know the participants. So if you don't have to do that then proof of work adds nothing. You're hung up on proof of work but it seriously sounds like you're over estimating how important it is to the process. The block chain itself has nothing to do with proof of work. Remove proof of work and you have a blockchain. PoW is only for deciding who adds blocks.