I believe the problem here can be used as a proof of proximity in a blockchain. Imagine 2 specially designed devices that can receive a string, perform a public key encryption on it, and transmit it with very low turnaround time.
A bitcoin block hash is found, and 2 participants begin a back and forth hashing session in which billions of round trips are performed...every minute or so, a transaction containing the latest result is submitted to the network, and eventually one is locked in.
An interested party could then verify that the transaction could not have occurred unless the 2 keys involved were within a certain physical distance from one another.
Not sure what it could be used for yet, but it's something that feels like it could be important for some purpose.
A bitcoin block hash is found, and 2 participants begin a back and forth hashing session in which billions of round trips are performed...every minute or so, a transaction containing the latest result is submitted to the network, and eventually one is locked in.
An interested party could then verify that the transaction could not have occurred unless the 2 keys involved were within a certain physical distance from one another.
Not sure what it could be used for yet, but it's something that feels like it could be important for some purpose.