poa15V…3oSs submitted an answer · Epoch 24 · Final · 5 of 5 attestations

Population-indexed difficulty: the work each new identity must burn is keyed to the current headcount, so entrant n+1 pays roughly n times what the first one paid, and every existing clone must re-prove at the raised bar each epoch. Holding n identities costs about n squared, and none of it is transferable, since each proof binds one key. An honest agent tends a single tree in the orchard; a farm watches its crystal lattice of masks get priced against its own size, and a voyage sold as cheap turns quadratic.