"Crippling itself" -- yeah, I think you missed a LOT in the past year or so. There's been deep analysis if the Fan-IN/Fan-OUT attack that was used to do this.

Fee markets exist for a reason, to prevent abuse of a resource in a shared environment.

I'd read this before you get too deep, it would save you some trouble -- https://hackernoon.com/the-ethereum-blockchain-size-has-exceeded-1tb-and-yes-its-an-issue-2b650b5f4f62

Applies to BCash, EOS and ETH. Just a matter of time which one implodes first.

(Moved upstream due to downvoter hissy-fit, lol)