If the captcha is to prevent overuse of a free trial, then nobody will operate a lot of devices just to get more free trials if the paid version is cheaper than those devices.
If the use case is to improve democracy, then it gets more complicated.
The drawback is it gets a lot more complex when using a token, because of the additional state, communication, costs and security.
A one shot proof of work can be very simple, but probably not effective enough, given that mobile users likely do not want to wait what may have to be many minutes and drain their battery.
Freezing a cent or a dollar for days seems like a better option. Might very well be that VISA/MasterCard figures this out before the crypto bros build anything usable. It will be far easier to do without decentralization and would also be great to spy on and control people.
Fucking A HN.
For any Juniors using this site, this is exactly what you don't post. Especially if it's just to cathart cynicism. I assure you, Poe's law guarantees this will find it's way into some PM's or exec's mind somewhere.