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We felt it made sense in this case, they asked for their rank back nicely and we proposed a swap so even if they did one day find their master key it would not be an unfair false boost to their new account. The "swap" ensures that they can still access the funds they earn with their new account, retain the Shadow Rank they fairly earned, and ensure that they are not unfairly able to use their old account in the future starting ahead of everyone else. Their new account started at 1 and old was at 17, we simply swapped the 2 ranks so they could continue on earning and still access their funds while ensuring everything is fair to all.

Just being curious: The account will not start dropping to a lower Shadow Rank? I mean less SP, less posts made with earnings other than shadowbotvotes, etc. Don't get me wrong, I think the swap is fair and legit. But is it even possible to drop to a lower Shadow Rank (unless someone is removing the account from shadowbot ofc)?

No the lowest Shadow Rank is 1 and this was a one time swap which will not result in any difference for how Boosts are calculated.

But wouldn't that be a moral hazard, when a high shadowbot user, something like >50 Shadow Rank with a high amount of SP, starts powering down, without loosing some of his shadow rank? It's quite nice not being able to drop in the Shadow Rank, reduces the stress, but that scenario seems to be a little bit problematic.

That is why we have the new metrics in place that use your Shadow Rank, your Steem Power and your Voting Power to decide your Voting Weight and Pool Priority. This ensures a fair allocation to all members and discourages powering down.

Ah right forgot about those, thanks for the clarification.