Two pigs met under the cover of nightfall outside their sty, with secrecy being the highest priority of their meeting. They wanted no chance of any animal overhearing their conversation and getting a glimpse into their plans, as their friend returned from his reconnaissance mission. 

The meeting had long been in the works as the pigs were troubled by how the farmer was running the farm. See, the farmer favored the cows over the other animals as most of his customers bought dairy products directly from him. The other animals were only there because the farmer’s daughters insisted on having them for a petting zoo, but the daughters had no real power over them. This caused the farmer to run the farm with special regard for the cows, especially when considering food. 

The farmer bought a special cow food called GrowCow, chemically designed to be the most nourishing for the cows. Since he didn’t care too much about the other animals, he just fed them the same food with no regard for how it would affect them. However, the food had unknown side effects on the other animals - other side effects that proved to be torturous. It turns out, GrowCow created an excess amount of methane in non-cow digestive systems, causing the poor animals to fart in undeserved agony throughout the day and night. 

However, they had some saving grace. The daughters would sparingly bring them snacks in the form of dried corn kernels that, while not nutritious in themselves, became a source of some food that didn’t cause ingestion. These snacks were ultimately unreliable as a main source of food due to the scarcity of the distribution, but they provided a way to potentially skip a meal or two if enough were collected/saved. In fact, these kernels were thought of as so valuable that the animals would use them to transact favors for each other.

For example, the chickens decided to keep a secret stash of eggs hidden from the farmer because he was incorrectly taking eggs with chicks inside of them. So, to protect their unborn chicks, the chickens saved weeks worth of kernels to give to the pigs and dug a secret hole outside of their sty. The farmer rarely checked on the pigs and even if he did make the trek over to their sty, he wouldn’t check close enough to see a stash if it was hidden properly. The pigs agreed to do so, thus confirming a transaction. Unfortunately, due to the scarcity, animals had a difficult time saving their kernels to actually transact them, and, more times than not, they just immediately consumed them.

Between the excess methane production and the lack of kernels being distributed, the other animals were miserable on the farm. This problem had gone on for years, and the pigs had finally decided to act. 

Steven and Paul stood right outside the sty, near the fence marking the edge of the property, waiting for the third pig, Greg. 

“I’ve had enough of the criminal misuse of power the farmer has exercised over us,” exclaimed Steven, passionately slamming his front left hoof down in the mud, “he clearly doesn’t care nor understand the pain our bowels undergo each day!” 

“Yes, Steven, of course, I agree. All the animals, outside those damned cows, agree that we’re being mistreated,” said Paul, slowly shaking his head in sad, reluctant acceptance, “Unfortunately, we don’t have much of a choice in the matter. But why call this meeting? There’s nothing we can do so we should just deal with it and try to cope with the discomfort. I doubt Greg came back with anything useful.”

“That’s where you are wrong, Paul,” remarked Greg, making a sudden and dramatic entrance from the other side of the fence, “I’m back from my journey and am here to spread the word of Pigtoshi Pigamoto.”

Both Steven and Paul took a startled jump back, both in surprise at Greg’s sudden entrance and the name he spoke.

“He exists?!?” exclaimed Steven “we had only heard rumors and thought there was no chance he really existed.”

“Not only does he exist, but his system works” said Greg, with excitement pulsing through his body “all the animals grew and ate their own corn! Their farmer still served GrowCow that the cows ate, but all the other animals learned to plant and grow a communal source of corn.”

“How did this all start,” Paul asked, while giving Greg a puzzled look “how could animals possible grow their own food?”

 Greg switched his gaze from Steven to Paul and, with his coiled tail wagging, said “It all started with Pigtoshi storing dried kernels his farmer gave him as a snack. One day, by a stroke of genius, he realized that if he put these kernels into the ground, they would turn into fully grown corn over just a couple of months! All he needed to plant more corn after was to just take a few kernels from the newly grown corn, plant them into the ground, and more would appear. Other animals took notice and started to ask and follow what he said, and over a couple of years, they grew entirely independent of the farmer! They eventually created a whole section of the farm dedicated to growing corn, called the Cornchain.” 

Paul, still not entirely convinced, asked, “but I don’t understand, how could he make sure that the animals split the corn evenly? It seems so disorganized and very easily manipulated so someone just gets to eat all the corn.

“See, Paul,” Greg said, with an evil pig smile “Pigtoshi developed some rules that made it seem like no one could manipulate the system. See, every animal had equal access to the dried corn kernels because the farmer gave them as a snack to all the animals. These kernels were also used to exchange favors with each other, but the kernels used in transactions aren’t very nutritious on their own. Once they are planted, and grow into corn, then they are significantly more valuable to each other. To help foster a community where these transactions represented much more meaning, Pigtoshi would have the two animals stomp their feet into the ground next to where the previous corn was planted, and leave the transacted corn on the ground for a different animal to plant it. They could dig it themselves, but it would take approximately ten minutes for the average animal to dig the hole, and that was often a burden because they lived pretty busy lives between sleeping and eating. Instead, there were animals who took the job on themselves to become “diggers,” and dug holes for corn to be planted in exchange for some of the corn planted. The stomped hoof beats with unplanted corn were called the cornpool, and animals could incentive their corn transaction to be planted first by writing in the dirt a higher chunk of corn for the digger. The reward they gave the diggers was simply called corn rewards. The entire system really revolved around the fact that everyone could go to the Cornchain, see the marks in the ground, and understand who had received corn in that transaction. If a different animal were to steal it, or promise multiple animals the same corn, then it would be easy to prove who actually had rights to the corn. You also needed to know the last animal to plant the corn because the ground is really unfertilized, so you needed the husk of the last corn planted for the kernel to use for germination.” 

“But this doesn’t make sense,” Paul rebuked.  “The animals can only transact corn one time after it has been harvested. Wouldn’t this limit the ability to conduct transactions?”

“Pigtoshi is smarter than that because he developed another ‘layer’ to the Cornchain called Husking, '' explained Greg. “Husking allows for transactions to occur outside of the Cornchain through opening separate channels that allow off chain transactions to occur. If two animals would like to transact corn, the animal who has the corn goes to where their hoof print is in the ground and draws an arrow pointing to a small square of land where the animal drew out some little borders. The animals then transact similar to a Cornchain transaction, with hoof prints going into the ground, but they no longer need any animal to dig the seed and plant the ground. This solves that issue, and then allows for higher corn transaction capacity on the network. The demand for the corn will likely skyrocket once animal see the benefits, so this extra layer makes sure that the chain can avoid overstompage.” 

“But let's back up for a second,” chimed Steven, looking as confused as a pig really can, “How can we manipulate this system? If you need some parts of the last corn that was planted in the chain, wouldn’t you always rely on the other animals.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, still so naive, Steven,” replied Greg, switching his gaze back over to Steven, “we can manipulate the system because for every kernel planted, you have to dig a little deeper. The corn seeds spread out really wide when growing, inhibiting planting other kernels because the roots would get in the way of each other. However, the roots of the previous corn don’t go very deep. So, if you plant a lot of corn in a season, you need to obtain more digging power for each kernel planted to compensate for the increase in difficulty. Pigtoshi also added another aspect to the protocol that made the diggers only recognize the longest chain as the correct one, trying to create an obvious point of agreement between everyone on the network. That’s where we come in. If we can create the best way of digging and control most of the digging power, the diggers will have to recognize our chain as the correct one as it will be the longest. The game theory and statistics work in our favor so that once we get 51% of the digging power, which seems pretty doable, we can own the entire Cornchain and eat/transact a percentage of every single cob planted. We already created some small hoof shovels for ourselves when digging the chicken egg nest, so we can that technology to take control of the digging power!”

Steven and Paul, still pretty confused and wondering what game theory was, looked at each other, gave a pig shrug, and decided to go along with Greg’s plan. Besides, who doesn’t like a get fed quick scam?

The very next day, the three pigs went to the goats, the chickens, and the sheeps with the word of Pigtoshi. There was much skepticism at first, with many pointing to the volatility with crop yields when farming on your own or the potential to use the corn to trade for illegal meats from other farms, a sin shamed across Wyoming farms, but after much persistence from the pigs, there was finally adoption amongst the animals. Ultimately, whenever a criticism was brought up of the new corn standard, Greg always responded with “what about that one time the farmer…”

The Cornchain went through its first full season with surprising participation from the other animals, all sharing their seeds in the hope of a better food supply, and, to their surprise, that’s exactly what they got! The animals were thrilled as they got to eat their first batches of corn, and the promise of food made them happily perform more and more transactions with each other through Husking. Additionally, they could finally sleep without the pain of excess methane leakage, and couldn’t wait for more. 

The farmer, meanwhile, was utterly confused by the progression of the Cornchain. He noticed that the animals had started to eat less and less of the Growcow, were spending an abnormally large amount of time digging in this one section of the farm, and then corn just started randomly growing even though he never planted any. He didn’t really think much of it initially because the animals were still obeying his commands when he went to collect products created from the animals. If he still had the ultimate power, why not let them grow their own corn? Besides, he was getting old and didn’t want to take the time to study and figure out the system that the animals had implemented to grow this corn. Some would even say he was starting to get a little geriatric. 

Then, as the next season came around, all the animals came back and were excited to grow another batch of corn on their beloved Cornchain. However, when they came back, the other animals realized how difficult it was to dig holes for their corn. The pigs were able to plant corn and secure transactions so quickly that it became difficult for other animals to compete as diggers. This was largely through Greg's superior understanding of statistics and game theory, as he developed a system where the pigs were digging holes and planting corn from the cornpool in secret. 

While they had more digging power than the rest of the animals, approximately 34%, it was still short of the 51% that he had originally calculated as necessary to take over the entire Cornchain. However, he discovered that the pigs would be able to secure more corn rewards through keeping the holes secret and revealing them all at once. As soon as the pigs dug and planted one cob, they would continue digging for the next hole. In the time that they were digging, if the other diggers successfully dug and planted a corn from the cornpool, they would show the first cob they planted and then the following the cob once they had finished planting. If the other diggers did not plant another cob in the time the pigs had planted two, they would continue to dig a third whole and just reveal the planted cobs as soon as the other diggers discovered their holes. This gave them an advantage of starting the next digging before the other animals on the longest chain, and while it didn’t always work, the math worked out where there was some additional benefit. 

The pigs were able to successfully keep their holes secret by covering their holes with a thin tarp they stole from the farmer. While animals could go up to the hole the pigs were currently digging, they had no idea if it was the second hidden block or the third hidden block, etc. Other animals also couldn’t copy the system because no other animal group had as much digging power because of the pigs’ hoof shovels. 

The effects of the private digging were very small at first, but the pigs continued to develop their hoof shovels through stealing different bits of metal from the farmer. The technological development led to additional digging power acquired by the pigs, amplifying the additional corn rewards acquired through the private digging. 

The other diggers saw what was happening to their newly beloved Cornchain and started to feel helpless as they could not compete with the pigs. While they collectively had enough power to stop the pigs, their independent corn rewards from digging were starting to lessen from this new strategy. This is where Greg’s ingenious game theory came into play, as he started to bribe a few other diggers to create a coalition with the pigs. In return for some corn, the other diggers had to recognize the pigs planted corn as soon as it was available. Once again, they were collectively strong enough to fight the pigs, but as individuals they were better off taking the bribe. Many took the bribe because they believed other diggers would not take the same steps as them, and, ultimately, this allowed the pigs to have the 51% power that was necessary to have complete control of the Cornchain. Eventually, the diggers who were not bribed or did not accept bribes stopped digging all together because of the clear dominance of the pigs, meaning the pigs no longer had any competition.

This control over the vast majority of the corn also allowed the pigs to manipulate how corn was used in transactional favors. Since corn became adopted as the main method of transacting and storing value through food by the animals of the farm, the pigs had absolute dominance over them with manipulation. They restricted the supply to the other animals, making any transaction very unfavorable to them and essentially beginning for scraps. The goats, chickens, and other animals essentially became enslaved to the pigs and would do anything that they requested in exchange for a meal of corn. The pigs abused this power and had the animals rebuild their sty, create soft beds created from feathers/fur, and plenty of other tasks to make their lifestyles more luxurious. 

Meanwhile, the farmer had started to realize he was losing control over his animals. The Cornchain had grown to such a point that the animals created a fully sufficient supply of food. They realized that they didn’t really need the farmer anymore, and no longer complied when he went to collect eggs, milk, and other products. While the pigs had essentially enslaved them, many still preferred the meals of corn they were able to get from the pigs from the methane leakage caused from Growcow. The farmer also didn’t want to kill them for their meat quite yet because he needed to collect several years worth of animal products to make the proper return on investment for them. So, instead, he decided to try and take down the Cornchain once and for all, and took his weed wacker out one morning to reclaim his power over the animals, just to notice that it was too late.

The pigs had foreseen this becoming an issue after the first season of the Cornchain. While the farmer decided not to act and remain in his geriatric ways, the pigs decided to dig their holes for the next season across the fence into the Bahama Barn, the next door neighbor’s farm, to prevent future action from the farmer. From their own surveillance, they realized the farmer on the Bahama Barn was miss managing the property as most of the property was covered in weeds, so he would be unlikely to act or care if the pigs carried on with their Cornchain. 

As the farmer approached the Cornchain with his weedwacker, he realized what the animals had done and that he couldn’t cross into his neighbors yard. This was outside of his jurisdiction, meaning he had no power over what the animals did on his neighbors farm. If the Bahama Barn didn’t care that the animals were there or what they were doing, then the farmer had no power to stop it. However, he could prevent them from accessing the new section of the Cornchain.

The farmer built an electric fence all around the property, restricting the animals with the potential punishment of agnoizing pain. However, once again, the pigs were one step ahead and forced the other animals to dig a tunnel connecting their sty to the Bahama Barn before the implementation of the fence. Additionally, the pigs had the other animals build them a sty mansion at the Bahama Barn to give them an escape route if the farmer came to kill them for their meat. They were also instructed to give the farmer the illusion of having control over the animals by giving him some of the animal products he desired. This led the farmer to believe he had finally gained the power back, even though the nefarious methods of the pigs were allowed to continue and harm the other animals. 

Interestingly enough, the pigs kept getting fatter and fatter as the years went on, and after enough seasons, one could even call them little pig whales because of how fat they were. The farmer had also decided to rename his farm to The United States of Farmland out of a sense of patriotism, and continued in his geriatric ways of naively believing he was successful in his restrictions on the Cornchain. One could also say that in a short matter of time, the whales owned the Cornchain, The United States was too late to act, and the animals were no better off than with GrowCow.