> Would SPV wallets have to pay to connect to the network too?

The cost to compute and deliver the requested data will be pushed to the users of that node. This is the same way all costs, fees, and taxes of any business are always paid by its customers. The Bitcoin Network will not thrive in a decentralised manner if nodes can only be run on the charity of the wealthy. That said, node operators can set fees to lower impact on SPV wallets if they so desire. Market efficiency will ensure everyone pays only what they cost the Network in the long run.

> Also, users of centralized wallet services like Coinbase would not have to pay that fee

Coinbase would pay to access nodes just like everyone else, to cover the costs they impose on the Network. Those costs would be covered by their customers, as are all costs incurred by any business.

On 15 Jun 2015 8:50 pm, Kevin Greene <kgreenek@gmail.com> wrote:


On Mon, Jun 15, 2015 at 8:41 PM, Luke Dashjr <luke@dashjr.org> wrote:
On Tuesday, June 16, 2015 3:30:44 AM Kevin Greene wrote:
> Would SPV wallets have to pay to connect to the network too? From the
> user's perspective, it would be somewhat upsetting (and confusing) to see
> your balance slowly draining every time you open your wallet app. It would
> also tie up outputs every time you open up your wallet. You may go to pay
> for something in a coffee shop, only to find that you can't spend your
> bitcoin because the wallet had to create a transaction to pay to sync with
> the network.
>
> Also, users of centralized wallet services like Coinbase would not have to
> pay that fee; but users of native wallets like breadwallet would have no
> such option. This incentivizes users to use centralized wallets.
>
> So this is kind of imposing a worse user experience on users who want to
> use bitcoin the "right" way. That doesn't seem like a good thing to me :/

SPV isn't the "right" way either ;)

​Hah, fair enough, there is no such thing as the "right" way to do anything. But I still think punishing users who use SPV wallets is ​a less-than-ideal way to incentive people to run full nodes. Right now SPV is the best way that exists for mobile phones to participate in the network in a decentralized way. This proposal makes the user experience for mobile wallets a little more confusing and annoying.
 

If you're running a full node (the real "right way"), you should be able to
earn more bitcoins than you pay out.

Luke