Ahhh... I see, this is corporate behavior we have seen before, but you know these days this kind of thing could backfire to a tune far greater than $ 17 million - I do not believe they would try to crush, but rather choose to ignore if they are not considering implementing something similar. If it became widely-known that Facebook tried to snuff a technology that benefited users, it would speed the demise of centralized social media.
No, clearly the best thing for them to do is to create something similar, because it will soon be clear to all social media users, everywhere, that this is vastly improved experience, over the old .. like .. like .. like .. to no end. Facebook will respond to the demand .. there is no reason they could not have a rewards based crypto-currency in-place 'and still' retain centralized control of content and user data.
I did a skype interview on this subject last year. It is all about shareholders vs crypto account holders. In essence by gifting rewards to content providers you are robbing the shareholders of their earning potential. On other words this will either go 100% right or 100% wrong and the only way it will go 100% right is if there is a shift in investment strategy by the BIG INSTITUTIONS. Stephen
Ohhhh hey, never thought of that - it sounds as if that would be the case, and if true it would be our greatest protection. However, if they created a chain-based currency, or "rewards token", (only to track upvotes/downvotes/tips), where people who 'held' the currency would have more upvote power than those who had very little AND, no money would be leaving Facebook coffers .. as was the case with their failed Rewards System, that they had attempted .. then there is no barrier.
In-fact, the value of the currency increasing with adoption and usage, as STEEM is supposed to experience, would add to the bottom-line of Facebook, so it is truly a win-win .. more users, happier users, and implementing a cutting edge blockchain-based technology, that adds to their bottom-line .. in a substantial way, with absolutely no risk!?
It is shocking that they have not already put this in motion.