Lets see some responses :)
But checking into it, I see that you have deep knowledge of steemit and how it is being run!
Could you / someone clarify how the witnesses actually make money, is it just passive rake ? in that case, I feel that you bring an excellent point to the table, and one many has overseen, at least me.
Do some digging, you'll see most of these witnesses with large holdings trade votes in order to ensure they stay in the top while contributing as little as possible to the Steem ecosystem.
Is there an optimal way to investigate this?
Peace to everyone @steemit let´s make the platform greater then what it already is <3
Yes, it's completely passive, all they need to do is run a server and trade votes.
Why? Who are you? Rockefeller wannabe someone? YOU ARE THE CONSPIRACY THEORIST BERNIE! Vaccinations are PROVABLY POISENOUS ! World Trade Center building 1, 2 and 7 was PROVEN to be demolished in a sequence.. NOT a result only of the plane collisions.. Damn, do some research. You should probably give some more credit instead of throwing names and accusations which are like fascist / communist shit spew!So yes, we need to investigate and push for solutions to this problem, or these problems. But look at my other comments.. Why this? "@ausbitbank - Has a lot of Steem, doesn't do shit besides whine about vaccinations and other conspiracy bullshit."
you are a disgrace.. the northern gods have forsaken your spirit now.. you will wonder and walk alone in the spirit world. You are dragging shitty toilet paper after you. Get yourself together now, say sorry to those you insult. Move on in the real matter.. Damn... Are you also one of the people trying to take away peoples ability to defend themselves? gooooooooooood dammmmmn..
Witnesses earn STEEM POWER by running witness nodes which is something like mining, but not so computational intensive. This is called staking and is used in Proof of Stake based blockchain when one is able to get rewarded based on its actual stake. Steem as a blockchain is a little bit different in this case, because the amount of stake that you are able to mine for does not depend only of how much stake you currently have, but it depends also of how much stake the people who have voted for you as a witness have.
If you look on steemd on some witnesses accounts, you will see the producer reward transactions. This is how they actually make money, and this is also generated from the same reward pool you are payed when you claim your rewards :)
Thanks! I see, the pos reward varies with our votes due to our stake, I ll have to chose my vote with care :)
Peace & nice answer!