Hi, I was wondering if someone could give me a technical description/explanation of STEEM vs SP vs SMD? Or verify that my understanding is correct.
Steemit is a blockchain-based social media platform.
STEEM is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency token that can be bought and sold on a digital currency exchange.
SP is the "currency" given, used, and traded on Steemit that can be "sold" for STEEM.
SMD can be purchased as an investment, like seed funds, into STEEM (or Steemit?) and is paid back in STEEM (or USD?) after the close of a round of financing?
Is there a finite amount of STEEM, SP, and SMD? Is STEEM any different than bitcoin? Is STEEM open for public mining?
When I joined Steemit, I was given some SP to "spend", where did this SP come from? If there is a finite amount of SP, who's pocket did it come out of? If SP is not necessarily finite, but STEEM is, and SP and STEEM can be exchanged, then does that mean for each new user to Steemit who is given SP, the value of STEEM inflates?
Thanks for the clarification!
I think it is no needed to give more clarification because the comments provide the answer for the question that you have asked.
Rainman and Tuck gave a great explanation here
Thanks for that! So that post says, "You can buy/sell Steem Dollars for Steem on exchanges." So, if I go to an exchange, like Bittrex, I can trade my U.S. dollar for either Steem or Steem Dollars? The difference being that Steem, like the U.S. dollar, is tradable to another person in exchange for a good or service... Whereas Steem Dollars is like holding a bond... I'd exchange my SD (SBD, SMD?) for Steem (or USD?) before purchasing a good or service? So, I can buy a cup of coffee with my Steem, but I will earn interest with my Steem Dollar. Is my understanding correct?
Bank notes are just "bonds of the bank", so you would purchase goods and services with Steem Dollars. The only time you purchase Steem is if you want to speculate short term or to convert to Steem Power.
Steem Dollars are the "currency" for business transactions and tipping.
You can trade Steem Dollars for Steem on the blockchain (once Steem Dollars get created on July 4th).
And a question about SP awarded for "liking" a post. I just liked a post (for a total of 2 likes for that post) and the "value" of that post still reads $0.00. But I posted last week and after just 13 likes the value was around $95. Does that mean that some people's likes are worth more than other people's likes depending on how much SP the liker has?
Further to this question, my post from last week is showing a value of $100.67 based on 14 likes. But my wallet says, "STEEM POWER 11.416 STEEM". What is the relationship between these numbers/values?
The more Steam Power a person has, the more value their vote adds. There are few people with a lot of Steem Power so their vote carries a lot of weight. As more people use the service that and gain power that will even out. The amount of weight is also influenced by how much a person votes during a day. Their Steem power is distributed across all their votes for that day. They more the vote, the less influence each vote has that day.