How to Move In & Out of Steemit
Ultimately, this is the segment that really matters. How do you move value in and out of the Steemit platform? The answer is that this is handled through services and exchanges.
At present, there are no fiat (read US dollars) gateways directly paired with Steem. Although this is in the roadmap for future development, Steem must presently be exchanged with other cryptocurrencies when one decides to both come in and go out of the platform.
While it is getting easier to exchange between cryptocurrencies, the current pathway can still be a bit of a headache. Centralized exchanges often work the best, but are both susceptible to hacks and often require troublesome Know Your Customer (KYC) rules where participants have to disclose personal information. Decentralized exchanges work best, but are often still at an earlier development stage. An example of a centralized exchange is Bittrex. An example of a decentralized exchange is OpenLedger.
Trading at each of these exchanges are also dependent on trading volume activity and the price spread between the bid & the ask prices. Less popular exchanges have wider spreads between those wanting STEEM and those selling STEEM. This results in less than ideal prices in most cases.
For a list of the available exchanges again refer to CoinMarketCap.com:
- https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/steem/#markets
- https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/steem-dollars/#markets
Hands down, the easiest method of moving in & out of Steemit comes in the form of a built-in service from @blocktrades, one of our platform's witnesses. Blocktrades is a intermediary exchange operator whereby you send one cryptocurrency and the service will automatically exchange it without having to go through the tedious process of signing up for external exchanges.
To access blocktrades, just go to wallet and click on the highlighted box that says "Buy Steem or Steem Power". You will be redirected to that site. While it's defaulted to buy Steem, one can simply reverse the flow of the transaction (send STEEM) in order to sell it for the major cryptos such as Bitcoin/Ethereum/Litecoin/Dash/etc. Needless to say you will need the respective wallets of each in order to accept any of that which you're transferring into.
To exchange back out into fiat currencies like the US Dollar, a fiat gateway like CoinBase is the most popular option. Coinbase is the best way to attach a bank account or use credit cards to acquire more crypto (or to exit the crypto world). At present, Coinbase only deals with Bitcoin/Ethereum/Litecoin. Sadly, Dash is the best out of the above mentioned when it comes to transfer fees.
Most people tend to want to stay away from transferring their crypto back into US Dollars in order to avoid the tax implications. An alternative method of utilizing your cryptovalue is through online services. Overstock.com and Newegg.com are two popular choices in the present. A popular way of gaining access to Amazon.com is via a site like egifter which accepts crypto to buy e-gift cards.
This is just a broad overview on the subject.