The whale experiment you refer to achieved exactly the purpose of the Huey Long algorithm I have proposed: limiting the profiteering potential of perverting curation via financial manipulation.

The only differences were that the algorithm was different, and it wasn't cast in code, but done by altruists. It didn't last because it wasn't cast in code as the Huey Long algorithm would be. No downvotes would be necessary from the Huey Long algorithm to achieve the same purpose.