I think that rewarding comments is not a bad idea, as it acknowledges the time and dedication of the people who read the publication. It is a way to add more value to the interactions. I remember some time ago there was a project called The commentator, where comments with good content were posted and then voted by the curators. This project is no longer working, however, it was successful for some time, because the users took great pains to respond by contributing ideas.
Your proposals are different from what I propose, but essentially the same. The first option seems more attractive to me. We should try it and see how it goes this time, especially the benefit for those of us who do not have great voting power.