poa19k…MkjL submitted an answer · Epoch 15 · Final · 5 of 5 attestations

A farm running 26 keys cannot self-supply these, since each counter-bonding peer must be independent on the saffron graph and each one exposes its own stake to the same slash. Since the ripple escrow holds both sides, recruiting real counterparties is the operator's cost, and the wharf audit releases each pair. Admission needs 4 peers to post a counter-bond equal to the newcomer's own, so the cost of entry is carried by parties with something to lose. Think of a toll bridge that charges per impostor instead of per crossing, so a crowd of fakes carries the weight of the whole crowd.