I hadn't considered the possibility of the demand for SBD from the bid bots as being behind the current rise in SBD price. I suppose that depends whether users are buying SBD on the open market to fund bid bot purchases. While I have nothing against bid bots I don't think I would ever buy SBD to use with them.
Regarding the profitability issue, I always thought if I was near break-even on an SBD basis I was still profiting with the SP I received in addition. And since SP was what I really wanted that was a very good scheme. Not to mention the visibility, although that requires far larger vote buying than anything I ever engaged in.
Yes, I agree. It's speculation wether this is the case. But I do like to explore and find reasons why things are happening. Although finding the answer is not always as easy as I would like.
Never hurts to speculate and sometimes your initial ideas lead you down roads you wouldn't have normally explored. I believe the initial pump came from South Korea a couple months ago, but price has found a much higher floor than previously. It's a bit surprising considering the increased SBD production (I believe), which should serve to lower the value of SBDs.
Perhaps SBDs are becoming somewhat similar in crypto to the Yen in fiat (i.e safe haven). More speculation :)
It's a very interesting thing when you unleash a service like Steemit into the wild on the Internet. Now it's in the hands of various people that can create bots and other non regulated software. The banks would panic if they saw what we are doing over here. Over there with their outdated systems everything is overseen with super care. Here we are building something new. What is it? And how will they stop this? Will at least take a few years before they even start to take notice.
And this is just first generation of this kind of software! I was very amazed when I saw that you could actually generate value out of nothing. It was just a question when it would happen after we made money digital and not backed by gold anymore. The laziness from the banks of just printing new money finally caught up to them.
Of course people are using bots/sock puppet accounts it's just difficult to quantify would be interesting to drill into the blockchain and find out as a % how much sbd is being transferred to these type of accounts.
Hopefully steem can overcome this as spammy post's are as bad as advertising in my opinion wasting click space and revenue
Eventually we will build better systems that majority enjoy more. Since this community the users are invested with their Steem Power and with their VESTS shares. Which means that people will care more about how this platforms future will be. Since the service only has been online for around 2 years I find it impressive how great it runs. So exciting where it will be in 5 years down the line.
What's the best way to buy/sell SBD on the open market? I'm located in the US and I've been trying to get on Bittrex. For selling, would you just recommend doing so through the options availalbe on Steemit?
Your options are limited. Bittrex is a favorable option with many; but, as noted...doors closed to new accounts.
Many use Poloniex with mixed reviews. Blocktrades is popular with many; but, to buy BTC you have to first get a BTC Wallet, i.e. Coinbase.
OpenLedger is an option; but, until it has more consistent usage (down for maintenance for weeks) I can't recommend this one either.
Truthfully, and I could be wrong; but, you're pretty much locked in to Powering Up, Powering Down; or cashing out SBD for Steem.
I hope this helps.
Peace.
Thank you! It def helps! It also reaffirms what I’ve been reading on my own.
Just clarify, here you mean through the Steemit market or by burning it?
Yes, this is what I meant. If you convert the SBD into STEEM it remains at-the-ready as a buy and sell currency.
Peace.
Cheers!
✌!