That's the argument for all patents and intellectual property and stuff.

No one will do any work if they don't get paid.

While that might be true for projects at scale that cost millions of dollars to complete... we've actually seen the opposite effect on the smaller scale; IP prevents people from doing work because the people who want to work on the thing don't have permission to do so.

For me this is the main importance of crypto because it bridges the gap and allows people to make money on stuff without owning it.