Steem is following an interesting path. What we are seeing is not uncommon in the world of business. In fact, most entrepreneurs who start companies are familiar with the process.
At this point in time, very few people are making a living off Steem. It would seem, at the moment, it is only a small handful, probably counted on one hand.
This is quite common with newer ventures. Anyone who started a business understands that it takes time to generate cash flow. We are seeing something like that taking place here.
Even though the blockchain distributes money, the value, as compared to fiat, is way down. This means the payouts, in USD or EUR terms is not that great. Since we still operate in a fiat based world, people, for the most part, cannot sustain themselves on this.
Of course, there is a flip side to this. Usually, those who are involved early, are able to amass wealth through being involved in the venture. Businesses might not generate a great deal of cash flow early but, when they do attain success, the owners tend to do very well.
Thus, we are looking at a very interesting situation.
Source
The early adopters of Steem will likely end up amassing significant wealth while not being able to create an income. Those who appear later will not have the same opportunities at wealth yet will see the ability to earn an income much easier.
It is an interesting situation when you think about it. Anyone who started a business most likely knows what it is like to go, at times, without a paycheck. The owner is always the last one to get paid in that situation. It is not uncommon for a family to depend upon another income while the business is getting going.
At some point, I believe, the Steem platform will provide incomes to millions of people. Before it arrives at that point, it will create a bunch of millionaires. As the ecosystem grows, those holding stake in the different projects on here will see their values increase. We are only one bull market away from the situation being completely different from a financial perspective.
What is likely to happen is that we will see the same thing filer throughout to everything on the platform. Please to not mistake that to mean that everything on Steem will have value. What I mean is that the increase in value will spread to all corners, impacting those projects that gain a following and are making progress.
For the time being, this is the projects that have a Steem-Engine token. Over the next few months, we will likely see this spreading to those projects that adopt SMTs. They will also will follow the same path.
With those tokens, the early adopters will not generate income but will, if the tribe/community is successful, will amass wealth. Only after an increase in the token value, as the entire project gains value, will those people start to generate income.
Right now there are millions (or tens of millions) of tokens being distributed daily throughout the entire Steem ecosystem. We know that many of these have little to no value at the moment. Down the road, that will probably hold true for many of them. However, there will be some that break the trend and appreciate greatly in value. Couple this with the holdings in STEEM and we could see many people who are in terrific position.
Development is taking place. There are more projects arriving that are going to help people get rewarded. I watched a video the other day about 3Speak and some of the features they are looking at implementing. That is going to provide a nice stream of payments to people once all those features go live.
This is the reason why I believe Steem requires the long-term view. It is not an overnight, get rich quick scheme. Unfortunately, that is how it was promoted in the early days with some people making videos of how they earned thousands in their first few posts.
Instead, Steem is a daily grind forward. This is true for content creators and developers. Each day, we move the ball a bit further down the field. That means getting a few more tokens in our wallet. There are many compounding factors involved in the Steem ecosystem and utilizing them helps to amass stake.
2019 saw the emergence of DeFi within the cryptocurrency world. What is interesting is a lot of what was developers already existed on Steem. Hence, those who have any Steem Power are in a position to keep growing it at a compounding rate. The missing ingredient is, obviously, the value in fiat since that is how all of us are stuck operating within.
At some point that will change. When it does, the number of people who are able to earn an income will increase dramatically. Before that happens, however, those who are involved now, will see their holdings increase significantly (in fiat terms). This will drive the wealth held on Steem to incredible levels.
Like most start ups, it is all part of the process. The early days tend to be the toughest. With all the development taking place, it is exciting to see us moving forward.
If you found this article informative, please give an upvote and resteem.
Posted via Steemleo
Significant wealth in the form of SP could generate a nice income stream from curation, delegation, and RC leasing.
Yes it could @preparedwombat.
It also could translate into other tokens via delegations.
The options keep growing over time.
Posted via Steemleo
That's the best part of the game.
I absolutely agree, I am working on diversifying a fun fund, and I have just gotten to looking into communities. Upfundme is one that I notice you don't have! It is a general posting tribe that I think fits very well for all, since all of us are funding one goal or another.
Posted via neoxian.city | The City of Neoxian
No @ecoinstant. I havent gotten into Upfundme much. I will have to take a closer look at it.
A lot of projects flying under the radar which is awesome.
Posted via Steemleo
Really great Post. I was wondering if anyone had the idea of making a platform for work related payments with steem like upwork and the like. I think it would have potential
I think there are a few in the works @tobetada.
Over the next couple months, Steem-Engine and Steemleo are going to offer some type of work for payments to their platforms.
Posted via Steemleo
I only need STEEM to get to $2.50 to be able to live off it with what I've acquired over the past 15 months..
A realistic level @davedickeyyall. I do not think that too outrageous in the next year or so.
Don't forget to keep acquiring those SE tokens where possible. They either can either be part of the wealth building strategy or converted to more STEEM.
Posted via Steemleo
I have plenty of SE tokens.. most staked.. but always building more
That is my approach @davedickeyyall.
I just keep accumulating some different tokens and see which ones pan out. I try to get into project I feel that will be successful but who knows. Just have to spread it out and try to play the percentages.
Posted via Steemleo
Considering it peaked at 8.16 its very much a possiblity in the future as inflation decreases supply decreases and bitcoin increase never mind users coming in and demand for steem rising
The steem pool has really slimmed down so i was able to get noticed and build some wealth in SP and tokens i never thought were possible
That is terrific @chekohler. It is always good to see those who stuck it out and increased their standing throughout the bear market.
My sense is you will get a nice payoff for that.
Posted via Steemleo
Keep preaching my brother
the #steem phenomenon is in full swing.
This is the best time for accumulation.
Posted via Steemleo
in the meantime - i just keep holding
every know and then i add a few pennies to the penny jar
i don't have any way to 'cash out' - so i treat this like a penny jar
maybe someday all my stupid .05c posts will amount to something LOL
Wow, actually a really thought provoking post. Thanks for the read, it will be really interesting to see how the early adopters do in the future.