I thoroughly enjoyed this debate, thanks. Some notes / thoughts from the talk:
Where's the money coming from?
People who value the services on the Steem network. People around the world are putting their time and energy into creating and curating Steem content, and in return are receiving a stake in the blockchain, as well as liquid SD.
What makes Steem secure?
Witnesses + miners signing blocks, forming a consensus on the history of transactions. Users of the Steem platform can use their stake to vote for the witnesses that produce blocks, as well as to hold them accountable.
Was the Steem blockchain hacked?
No, steemit.com was hacked, not the blockchain itself. The hacks have been caused by typical vectors such as phishing and XSS on steemit.com.
Is Steemit tricking people into locking up value?
I don't think so. Maybe some people that haven't done due diligence on the projects they invest their time and capital into. As Blake mentioned, lot of people understand what they are doing when they power up their SP. The SP vesting structure gives investors a chance to convert their wealth into influence on Steemit.
Do miners get paid in Steem or Steem Power?
Miners get paid in SP. I believe for the initial month, miners received tradable Steem.
Why are so many women coming to Steemit compared to other cryptocurrency?
Steemit attracts a lot of diversity in terms of gender and race, but why? I think a good reason is usability and opportunity. Also the fact that the discussion is what you make it. Put your content out on the Steemit market and see whos attention it attracts. The internet is universal... and humans universally know when an opportunity feels right. Steem feels right to me. Also, women are pretty good at getting attention. ;-) This is really valuable in an attention economy.
Is Steem a blockchain?
The Steem network is an open, distributed ledger. This is valuable to give all players on the network confidence in the history of transactions, and the ability to see what actions other participants are taking. The interplay of digital assets on this blockchain are what provides Steem its "stickiness." Open source blockchains allow the Steem blockchain to be audited, consensus of the chain's history to be formed, allows the platform to be developed upon via 3rd party services, allow each bearer of private keys to have the sole right to their wallet's balances, enables the SBD peg, and probably many more benefits that I've missed.
Great summary
Incredible summary! Im sure that many people will make a good use out of your advices, it is a huge amount of knowledge about steem tech.
Thanks to the people trusting steemit network- we may see money involved here , all that could not be possible if we would not make SBD a coin. We can also speculate about SBD what is another great tool.
Im using steemit.com for about 2-3 weeks now, and im still amazed because this page offers us so many possibilities that i just cannot believe it. Anyway i think that everyone see, that it works great haha :)
Mining SBD may be a great idea too because we can invest it later into our STEEMPOWER what may ( and i think it will ) turn up as a great investment.
Steemit is just a blockbreaker , it is a new idea , a precursor.
How does the content create money? Are they selling it? You've drank the koolaid.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@apocaloptimisto/dantheman-ned-please-remove-my-content-from-this-site
Content creation isn't the only service provided by the Steem blockchain... it pretty much encapsulates the same benefits as BTC (value transfer) with the addition of a relatively stable digital asset (SD), with content creation as a means of distribution.
None of that brings money into the platform that isn't someone buying steem because they've been duped by the ponzi.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@apocaloptimisto/dantheman-ned-please-remove-my-content-from-this-site
Since we're linking posts in this thread, I'll link you to @modprobe's response to this debate, as I think he does a nice job at refuting Tone's claims: https://steemit.com/steem/@modprobe/response-live-debate-about-steem