I've been doing my part to sell the idea of investing into Steem to a few friends and clients of mine. Truth be told the world of crypto is still pretty scary, and unless you live, breath and eat it, it's pretty hard to be comfortable with the idea of taking a gamble on these intangible tokens.
Aside from the fact that absolutely no one can make ROI guarantees, success on any investment lies somewhere in between luck and extensive research, due diligence as everyone loves to repeat, is crucial to not crashing the car. On a bullish market however, the needle tends to be more permissive, and allow for some recklessness without too much danger, the same cannot be said with a more bearish market, the one we seem to be experiencing at this very moment.
We should all feel comfortable with Steem, the currency
Aside from all the challenges we may experience as a social experiment, the advantages of Steem as a currency are simply undeniable. I'm not aware of any other currency that can run as many transactions as the Steem blockchain, and can do so in record times, without even breaking a sweat.
I don't know who the original creator of this GIF is, but I love it:
What makes Steem valuable?
Maybe just as important, if not more than its technical advantages, what I strongly believe makes Steem valuable is the amount of users of Steem, meaning it would not matter if we had the fastest currency, the best looking websites and applications, if no one was using them. It's really that simple.
The growth of Steem in the past few months has been truly overwhelming, and it wont be long before we become mainstream. If you doubt my words, if you think I'm exaggerating, I invite you to visit @penguinpablo 's blog and check this out for yourself. In his latest stat report It shows us breaking yet another record.
What does this mean for Steem valuation? To me, logic dictates it means we are going to keep on moving on up. To keep things in perspective even though we are technically experiencing a bear market, Steem is still five times more than it was two months ago. If that says nothing to you, then I don't really know what to tell you.
As more users and more developers realize the opportunities of this blockchain, more and more applications and use cases will be developed, thus increasing the demand, and that becoming the catalyst for the valuation we will all love to see. The idea of a $50 USD Steem token sounds crazy to some, but to me, it actually sounds completely possible.
How much can we grow?
This is my favorite aspect of this whole scenario unfolding in front of me. We are currently the most active blockchain in the cryptosphere, and we are not breaking a sweat. The more known coins, such as Ether and Bitcoin are struggling to keep up with their transactions. If that is not exciting to you, then I don't know what to tell you.
Is it safe to invest in Steem?
I'm of the opinion that there is no safer crypto investment right now. This is not to say we won't experience ups and downs throughout the year, of course we will, but the way Steem and Steem Power is design prevents the possibility of Flash Crashes from happening, and I'm not aware of another crypto with this feature.
What does a flash Crash Look like, you say?
All of the sudden, panic sets in, people start to freak out and everyone starts dumping the coin for whatever price they can get for it. The result is a chart that looks exactly like the one I shared above, leaving millions of dollars in investments to Houdini themselves out of existence.
With Steem, this is simply not possible, at least not with the same intensity. Steem's biggest investors, or whales as we know them, would have to power down their vested Steem and this would take 13 weeks. The process of powering down would potentially allow a redistribution of tokens as other people buy them up, thus the flash crash never really occurring.
I've learned my lesson
It's not like I intend to only have Steem in my portfolio, of course no investor would call me smart for saying that, but what I'm saying is that I intend for Steem to be my biggest holding. And maybe, take a gamble here on there on other projects, with the intention of buying up more Steem later (ha!).
It's for all these reasons and more, that I'm feeling pretty comfortable inviting friends and investors. I genuinely think that by inviting them to join us, I'm opening a door to an opportunity they never imagined. I fully intend to keep on knocking on doors to see which ones open.
Steem on my friends...
Steem is one of the few crypto currencies that have a practical use and I support the premise that we should own and get paid for our contribution to the network (posts, likes, comments). I cant wait to see what new applications are going to come out next!
well, you know I'm going to agree! :)
Thank you @meno....
Steem poses a great opportunity..
Is Ripple XRP faster though?
ripple is fast... but its exactly 1 second slower than Steem... and as of right now, nobody is using ripple..
I thought ripple already had banks in japan using them. Give me your honest opinion, Do you think the xrp token is useless as an investment.
Well, according to the info out there there are 5 banks that are currently doing some tests with Ripple, meaning they are not using it yet, they are getting read to use it.
I'm of the opinion that ripple will be around for a long time, I don't see them being the kind of crypto as some claim, simply because it goes against the ethos of crypto. Ripple regardless of what anyone says is centralized, and that defeats the purpose.
Mid term, i think there is some money to be made with it, our speculative markets allow it... long term... not for me... at last this is my opinion right now.
A Steemian by heart, when you talk Steem, I know you mean it, its your love... Never seen you loss that enthusiasm
thanks very good information.☺