Well done sir!
I'm still wrapping my head around the crypto/blockchain/decentralized technology, so I can't speak with any authority... but your response is well reasoned, sourced and documented. You sold me.
I have one question though, that you may be able to answer: why isn't there a direct buy exchange for STEEM (at least I haven't found one)? I must first buy another coin (Littecoin, Bitcoin, Ethhereum, etc) and then exchange those for STEEM through BlockTrades to get them into my Steemit account. Again, that's the only way I know how to do it.
I think STEEM not having a direct exchange (I think in crypto this would be a "fiat exchange"?) holds it back in many ways. Especially for newbies like myself who might think that if I can't exchange my dollars for STEEM like I can BTC, then there must be something wrong with STEEM...that is, thinking it must be a lesser product than the rest.
Again, no authority to back that up (not yet anyway...I'm learning more everyday), but just a thought.
That is the holy grail for crytpos. In the US there are only a few coins that have direct fiat to crypto gateways. Banks/Exchanges seem to be very picky and selective which coins they will make that gateway with. I think over time we will see more coins have that direct route. Bittrex said a while back they were working on getting fiat pairs with a lot of coins. Not sure what the latest is there though...