Thanks @holoz0r. I will give it a read.
And if they are cashing out, how does that change things. The fact they are powering down means that their SP is weakened, hence making the rest of the community stronger. People complain whales have all the power. If a Whale sells his/her stake and leaves, isnt that person eliminated from the reward pool?
I'm interested to see what can be done with data from the top 200 accounts in terms of % of the reward pool obtained versus the (aggregate) percentage of the reward pool is given to those not within the top 200.
So let's say a whale gets 0.8% of the reward pool in any given week, is their growth potential (if they were to reinvest the liquid rewards) equal, or more than that of a minnow?
I would wager that it would be more. My hypothesis on such a trend would be as follows:
(This would be on the basis of reputation number alone, and the size of vests following them)
I don't have the SQL / database smarts to pull the data, but I think it would be fascinating to see.
Yeah I lack the skills to pill info from the blockchain also.
One point to remember, is MVests get more expensive with time even if the price does not change. One buying in today versus a year ago is going to pay more for the MVest than the one a year age even if the price is identical. That is one advantage to being in early and staying in.
You are correct in that a Whale could cash out and buy back in...just like someone else can come in with a large stake if he or she wanted and become an instant Whale.
However, the sell out, buy in game at these levels is a risky move. Some might get it right but if they miss, it is costly. The worst thing to do is to sell while believing the price will be cheaper to buy in and have it run on you. This easily could happen.
I am not sure I follow you about the reputation...that is not based on MVests...if one powers down, he or she maintains the reputation.
You don't need to be a whale to abuse the system. Actually, it is easier for smaller accounts to abuse the system, because they go under the radar and/or tolerated.
All you have to do is to post, comment, and self vote 10 times a day and you'll see returns to your capital that no other legal investment would provide, only for a limited time of course.
That is until the whole currency and the platform crashes. I disapprove of this type of behavior, but the system allows it. It's a %65 Million USD per year problem, if you do the math. All of that cash comes from the Steem/Steem Power holders that don't abuse the system.