DITCH THE SBD FOR STEEM ONLY
I am sure that this Blog will be met with a divided opinion and I have no doubts at all that it has been suggested on many occasions before.
I simply wanted to share with you a concern that I have that has been raised recently while we have been out on the street handing out flyers.
As most of you who follow my Blog will know, over the last few weeks we have been tirelessly out on the streets talking to people about STEEMIT and I myself have spoken to well over +500 students alone in and around the Manchester University Campus.
These discussions are invaluable and have been extremely useful especially when you engage with people and talk about STEEMIT in detail.
One of the topics that comes up time and time again is the Currency Structure of STEEMIT and the complexity that is felt around the different components.
This complexity, though it may be obviously clear to many with a detailed knowledge of STEEMIT, is not as obvious to the majority.
It is this therefore that I would simply like to throw out as a suggestion.
Could the SBD be ditched and STEEM be the only Currency Compound used combined with the Powering Up facility.
As we all know the price of STEEM fluctuates on a daily basis, but with a 7 Day Reward Period, this could be smoothed out by simply taking an average over a slightly shorter period in time, say 5 Days.
For me, achieving a rolling out of STEEMIT to the Mass Market will require a fool proof and easy to understand Currency Compound Structure and if people saw their Blogs valued in STEEM, as oppose to a $USD equivalent, I personally think it will make life more easy.
I am purely taking what the Market is telling me and sharing it with you, so that I can pass on the concerns first-hand.
Thanks again for reading.
Stephen
My original vision was that SBD could be used to attract capital that would otherwise exit immediately. It also serves to give everyone who holds STEEM some extra leverage and ROI when the price of STEEM goes up.
The downside is it increases volatility of STEEM.
The second aspect is I wanted to create a community that was selling goods and services (think ebay, craigslist, etc). For that kind of thing to be simple merchants needed to accept Steem Dollars at face value.
The idea is that not everyone can invest cash into buying STEEM, but many can invest their "used junk" that is someone else's treasure. This would enable price price of Steem to be supported by not just labor and cash, but by the trading of real goods and services.
SBD is currently under supply and its price has broken the peg to the upside. This is undermining the utility for merchants and users. To fix it we need another way for SBD to enter circulation and that could be done by allowing people to open short positions with SBD backed by 3x STEEM value similar to BTS. Then they can be margin called if Steem falls in value but gain leverage when it grows in value.
So the question is does Steem want to become an economic platform or does it want to promote its own currency first and simplify. There is value to both businesses.
Hi Dan. I absolutely get it and the reason to use SBD for fresh capital, in & out. I also get having one that is used to form the base and one to be used as an earning tool, at the same time to buy goods and services. The problem I'm having is trying to sell the whole thing as a package to someone that simply wants to move away from the likes of Facebook to one that their content is valued and rewarded. The bit that always seems to cause a problem is the SBD/STEEM/PowerUp/PowerDown scenarios. What I have found is that if the SBD was stripped out away from the Blogging and the Blogging was purely STEEM (Liquid+Power), this would make it less confusing. Most people who understand it, understand it, but the ones that don't will most likely never get it and could make or break them joining STEEMIT through the simple fear of not fully appreciating why the different components are there. Apart from this the feedback from the students that I personally have spoken with is simply overwhelming. Rolling this out to the Mass Market would be so much easier if the Investment (Capital In / Capital Out) was kept away from the Blogging tool in an area left to the ones who know the bigger picture. Apart from this it is very exciting to take STEEMIT to Market. Stephen
I agree and think that interface such as STEEMIT should hide the option to receive SBD and all payouts should be denominated in STEEM.
Advanced users can request payout in SBD but it wouldn't be exposed directly nor would it have to be explained to new users.
"Advanced users can request payout in SBD but it wouldn't be exposed directly nor would it have to be explained to new users." This is exactly how I would love to see it. Speaking to people of the last few weeks, they love the Platform and are very excited to see it develop. It's just the complexity of having so many different currency components that is confusing people. I am 100% confident that it will naturally resolve itself as the masses arrive. From personal experience taking it to the market with a hands on approach has taught me so much about the market and what they want. I have great hopes that it will be a massive success. Stephen
I've been involved with crypto for years, and I found the whole 3 currency system of Steemit immediately confusing. It was a large part of why I was hesitant to buy any Steem for months and months.
keep them both. the way i see it stephens issue is with post payout .. selling it to users. sbd is good is simple
Bob, it isn't. It's all about trying to sell STEEMIT to the Mass Market. Trust me, I have spoken to well over +500 Students these last few weeks and this is one issue that could cause a problem if you want mass adoption. I wouldn't raise it unless I thought it was necessary. This is not me asking, its the Market telling me to ask it. It has absolutely nothing to do with payouts. Stephen
I'm all for simplifying. Building essential features for a social media network, like community feature, takes enough time and resources. It doesn't make much sense to divert them to other projects at the same time.
Focus should be on the core business.
Nice train of thought Stephen. I'd go for a steem (liquid) and steem (powered up) version and that's it. I do however like the Dollar connotations. It's easy to compare it to your other crypto's then, because the trade acc's are also in dollars (at least they are for me).
"I'd go for a steem (liquid) and steem (powered up) version." EXACTLY. That's all you need. Stephen
Without stability there is no reason for SBD.
SDB was supposed to be the stable value component of the STEEM cryptocurrencies. This way the SDB could be used by retailers who want a stable crypto somewhat pegged to $1 USD.
A change was instituted when the price of SDB was too low that, as you said, payouts were only in SP.
There should be a change where rewards go fully to SDB only. This would increase the supply of SDB and drive selling of SDB into the market which should decrease the price of SDB.
Another problem with SDB is that interest is paid on SDB. Just like the USD, SDB represents debt. The interest on SDB should go to zero when the price of SDB goes too high. This would also drive selling of SDB into the market as the reason to hold large amounts of SDB would be eliminated (no interest payments).
Having a stable crypto for retail is desirable in a period of high volatility in cryptocurrencies.
If the long term plan of a stable SDB is no longer in the cards, then SDB should be dropped from the STEEM cryptocurrency universe.
Just my opinion,
Steem on,
Mike
Well you nailed the economics.
Either the witnesses need to push for some changes to SBD or if there is no long term commitment - kill it off now.
Cheers Mike. I always value your opinion. For me depegging STEEM and allowing it to free float I think would be a MASSIVE PLUS for STEEM as it will hold up on its own. Stephen
Interesting post. Ned himself suggested in person to me that the SBD may no longer be on Steemit, down the pipeline. I do wonder how that'll affect the economy- probably for the better, as people will be more easily able to distinguish between the confusing variety of tokens o.0
Let's hope so. I for one would ditch the SBD tomorrow and like it has been suggested here in the comments have the two STEEM. LIQUID & POWER..!! Stephen
Yes, ditch the sbd. Cap the total amount of steem just like bitcoin, this 100% inflation annually will kill steem!! Cap it so it stores value and is finite. Im glad this is coming up. I am more than just a participant, i invested and bought 5000 steem and converted to steem power. Hoping for these changes
Nice post:)
for mass adoption, yes the system would have to be simpler. the general public wouldn't be keen on something a little complex !
I can tell you the complexity of not only learning about one cryptocurrency, but two, was a concern when I first joined the site. I have the hang of it now, but it is something that is confusing to new members.
"...but it is something that is confusing to new members." This is exactly the point. STEEM and SBD is ok if your head is massive, but most people have little heads and cannot grasps the two currency components... ;). Stephen
It is a good question. I've actually been wondering the value of SBD. When the steem value get's too low they will often only reward in STEEM while they wait for it to increase enough to support SBD. Yet me as an end user. If I want money to spend I transfer my SBD or STEEM and convert it to whatever I need to make my purchase. It really makes no difference to me which it is.
I believe the real reason for SBD is savings idea.
Steem is going to fluctuate in value. So if you have 1000 steem when the value is $1 per steem then essentially you have $1000.
Howeve when steem is only worth $0.50/steem you effectively only have $500.
The idea was to peg SBD at $1. So regardless of how long you held it when it said you had 1000 SBD you'd know that that was very near $1000.
It feels less like a RISK to some people. Those who trade a lot might not care about the difference, and because I am not using it like a savings account I do not care.
Yet if the average user who does not have crypto has 1000 steem and sees their account is worth $1000 and a couple of days later it is only worth $750 they might have problems with that.
SBD that ideally should never be the case.
Savings was understandable when Steem had a lot higher inflation model. But now that the inflation has been greatly reduced, there isn't so much demand for a savings token.
I agree.
Thank you for your wonderful insights. If SBD is a savings idea, it all starts to make sense.
Well they were even giving an interest payment on it for a time. It is currently not doing that, but it was for awhile. I believe they stopped to try to keep it on it's dollar peg.
I personally, as a total novice to both steem and crypto currency in general have absolutely no idea why there are two separate currencies with in the one sphere.
Was one intended to drive the other?
The SDB is pegged to the $USD and was there to try and keep things stable but personally I think it do more damage when we attempt to roll out to the mass market. Stephen
what damage could it do ?
When I joined Steemit, the whole point with the three currencies looked very complicated to me. I am a researcher type so it was for me just an incentive to learn more, but not all people have the same attitude. As for the dollar connotations mentioned by @rymlenm, they could be easily calculated. But as this post says in great detail, SBD "provide a steem buffer in case a short fall arises between the amount of vests being sold and being bought".
You have brought up some interesting thoughts regarding SBD and the whole structure of Steemit, Stephen. There are so many people out there that don't even know what cryptocurrency is. Yesterday, I made an RV salesman aware of its existence while at a RV show with my family, lol! One thing that I have gleaned from working with the public is that if you want mass adoption of a specific item/creation/etc. its interface has to be pretty straightforward. As a person with no experience whatsoever in the world of crypto, I managed to decipher the whole Steem/SP/SBD thing, but there is a bit of a learning curve.
One thing I do know is that people like you who work tirelessly to promote the awesomeness of Steemit are crucial to its future, and I am doubly sure that all of the genius creatures that tweak the system's inner-workings will figure out the best way to make everything mesh for success!
I am all for keeping it a simple as possible.
Exactly my thoughts. Stephen
Im in for ditching the SBD as well.
It has no use at all.
And since everyone want Steemit to become THE social non censured platform it must be simple (I think Steve Jobs/Apple has proved that as fact number of times) and SBD ... After 3 weeks i don't even know what its for or how to get them ... Useless according to me. Imo :)
That's a good question. Personally, I like the idea of SBD. It's nice to use the 50 50 payout reward on posts, and use that SBD to get other cryptos
The SBD(Steem Dollar) serves a few purposes.
i am the new guy .
i think posts should be paid only in Steem power. but make it easier to powerdown. SBD can stay it serves a purpose and on the long run it might be the entry point for mass business adoption . .
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