That's the story I've been telling about STEEM, and a lot of ears have perked up that don't care a whit about publishing articles or any other sort of content.
Using the platform to set up a free banking system to individuals who have no interest in contributing to the platform seems rather odd. Everyone here just took a cut to save space on the blockchain by being assigned resource credits and you are promoting the site as a free banking system. I don't have a problem helping people in need out but if all of us decided to pick the area of the world we felt needed the same assistance and started promoting it the same way it would appear to be taking advantage of the platform without adding any sort of value at all. Surely there must be thousands of stories behind these people the world would love to hear.
Without adding any value? You think the only value of steem is content creation? That's the point I'm making, that this is a value, but not the only value. I've got to tell you that out of my entire STEEM experience, which has included blogging/curating, monster game, and Fundition activity, the greatest value to me has come from activity with Fundition or just finding people to send to directly. That's not a banking system, or does Fundition have no place here? Or are we only allowed to perform that function if using Fundition? And I'm quite certain that any projects or people on the receiving end have felt this function of the platform presents extreme value to them.
lol, I couldn't help but comment after reading you guys' argument. Imo, @indigoocean is actually using blockchain as close as its original intention "a free banking system". That's one of the reasons blockchain creators, especially ETH, touted that it's a decentralized system where you can transfer monetary values across countries for little fees and no middle man.
So, yea, you do you, @indigoocean. If you can use Steem blockchain as a no cost, zero fees banking system, you should spread the ideas. Just beware of the price fluctuation and you might be onto something big.
It's true that the idea of "crypto-currency" would of course be something akin to "a free banking system." But it really isn't what I've been talking to people about or thinking about, just point of fact. The connotation of "banking" is extraction of value to many people. And that's sort of what the commentator was saying, that he saw it as an extraction of value from the STEEM ecosystem. My point is that it's not an extraction of value like banking, but rather a conveyor of an incredibly unique value.
At least I don't know any other way I can send micropayments globally where the fees aren't more than the amount I'm trying to send. For me personally, I chose to use STEEM because I'm already on the platform, have spare STEEM, and also could find people on the platform in need who I might send it to. (That's even without finding them through formal Fundition campaigns, which present still more options).
To me it's about a better way of engaging in charity work, and those are the people I talk to, people already doing that and intrigued by new possibilities about how they might make their contributions go further in actually reaching the people they're trying to help. The volatility of the crypto markets is something one has to face if they are going to invest in any coin, so that's a separate conversation.
Yea, that's fine, I see where you're coming from. There's a distinction between blockchain and the apps build on top of it. All I'm saying it: Steemit is a blogging platform which is one of many apps built on top of Steem blockchain. Even if it dies, Steem blockchain itself might still live on as long as there are witnesses.
Actually, if it dies, it would be the first flagship app that dies before its flagship blockchain. You probably could build a charity app (plus blogging) on top of it to replace Steemit. Steem ecosystem should stop evolving just around Steemit if it wants to survive against newer/better blockchain.
Yes, and actually I think Fundition is that app right now when it comes to charity on the blockchain ... though I'm not predicting Steemit going anywhere. We'll see.
There is still Busy, Steempeak, esteem, etc. providing blogging dapps. But I think steemit is the only one that consolidates content from all of the steem dapps, except steem monsters. (Do Steemhunt posts show up on Busy?) So would be good to see that function continue to exist.
I agree that Steem is a great way to send value without the gouging by the traditional banking systems. I've been having my eyes opened up real wide lately as I attempt to find a business banking account that allows me to pay employee withholding taxes to the government without having to pay additional fees just for the privilege of paying the government!
Try and get money sent (or send out) money to/from another country using e-transfer. It can't be done. They call it a wire transfer and charge a huge fee for it. What exactly is the difference between a wire transfer and an e-transfer? Probably just the name. I mean, come on; the credit cards can all send money internationally for a small conversion fee, yet if we try and send money we get dinged big-time.
I would love to be able to receive payments to my business bank account in Steem and to pay the government in Steem, however, at this point, nobody accepts Steem as payment. Steem has to be converted to Bitcoin or Etherium, then converted to local currency and guess what? The leeches are standing in line to grab a big chunk of any money that needs to be converted here too.
You say that you send a dollar to someone and they receive a dollar. That is just partly true. They can't spend that dollar until they convert it, and now it is no longer a dollar, is it? We have a long way to go yet before that dollar remains a dollar that can actually be spent outside of the Steem eco-system.
I'm in Canada and it cost me a hefty premium just to purchase some Steem. Never mind the gamble one takes at each conversion when prices are fluctuating all the time.
The idea is great, but we are not there yet.
True that the day when we can buy things directly with crypto (including paying taxes) will be the real turning point for crypto as currency. Until then all coins do incur significant fees when converting to fiat. But you know, while I can’t speak for others, my experience has been that that opportunity cost is the same or less than other ways I’m charged for moving money. I pay just 3% to go from BTC to cash, which is the same as to send money with PayPal. Though I’m sure this varies a lot, I’m imagining people are still ahead at the micropayment level. Really how could you even send $2 to someone in another country who is without a bank account without using crypto?
If a person has no bank account, then for sure conditions there are such that crypto is likely being USED as currency there. In that case, absolutely, crypto is the best way to send money, regardless of it being a micro-payment or large sums. I recall watching an episode of the Dollar Vigilante where he visits a country where local currency is practically worthless because of run-away inflation. He said that many people there were using Bitcoin as their preferred currency. So it is being used on a small scale. If only we can get it to the point where it (or preferably some other coin with less gas fee and faster transaction times) becomes a real-world currency adopted by the majority, I believe a lot of people are going to be very pleased.
You never mentioned in your reply you do it through some community involvement group here, to me that is different. But no I do not agree that people should be promoting people in third world countries to open accounts to use Steemit exclusively as a bank. It also opens up the system to a unfair advantage to develop a trail of followers via bribery disguised as charity. Not that you would/are doing such it's that there are people here who would.
I do both donations through Fundition and directly and will continue to do so and encourage others to. I’m speaking to donors, not recipients, because that is who I know. I’m sure some people may hear of Fundition as their first point of contact for STEEM blockchain (or possibly any crypto) but I suspect most such activity on the recipient end is among people already creating content on here. Again, you keep fighting these straw men, because you’re the only one talking about banking. I have repeatedly corrected this false interpretation of what I’m talking about, and yet you persist in arguing with a statement I did not make. Do you not understand that there is a difference between banking and charity?
You are dreaming if you think that in the long term there will be no cost associated with money transfers. Yes right now you or most are stuck with transaction fees while converting on the market, thinking that you could use a platform like Steemit on a large scale basis to go out and around paying fees is about as naive as your ability not to understand why we all got cut down to resource credits...because operating a blockchain cost money. For your analogy to work someone would have to lose somewhere because who is going to pay for that increased cost to operate the blockchain for those who want to sign up exclusively just to send money around freely? "Blocks" cost "money" , they are not free.
Since you’re clearly having a conversation with yourself, I’ll bow out of pretending to be included in it.