[schmichael]

> miners do more than just burning energy, and without this mechanism, the price can't be justified

The price is based on utility of the commodity and speculation about its future utility, not mining costs. Put another way: more hash power does not raise the value but more value may raise the hash power (by making it profitable for less efficient miners to mine).

> how a structure on top could be created to leverage bitcoin without mining.

There's lots of activity around alternatives to bitcon's proof-of-work based mining: proof of stake, proof of activity, etc. Just search "proof of work alternatives"