This statement does not only apply to whales. Many are engaging in similar behavior. However, I wrote the title to capture their attention since they are the ones with most of the power (plus to lure people in with a catchy headline).
Much is written about the "unfair" rewards system and how the whales are only concerned about themselves while engaging in circle voting. I am not going to comment on this inane concept other than to say there are many whales who do not have this outlook. There is a group of them who want incredible success for Hive and those on here.
Many put forth ideas to get newer users active. It is no great secret that part of the appeal to coming to Hive for many is the opportunity to make some money. Let us call a spade a spade. This site is promoted on the idea of making money from your posting, commenting, and upvoting. Much of the Hive whitepaper dealt with this. Therefore, we should not shy away from it by believing that most come here for any other reason than that.
The present challenge is the rewards system favors those with Hive Power. This is how the system is set up and the reasons are well explained in the white paper. Nevertheless, there are many who are calling for a change in the system. While this might be the ultimate end, I am not ready to make that proclamation at this point.
Before going any further, I want to make a couple points.
The first is that if you are a whale, in my opinion, you are already rich. I made my views very clear in a number of posts that $HIVE is highly undervalued and going to explode. I foresee $100-$200 in Hive's future if things unfold as anticipated. I will leave the math to you but if you are presently sitting on 500K, 750K, or 1M $HIVE, that is a nice sum of money.
Now I am not one who believes that one can be "too" rich. That is up to the individual. If someone wants to amass more $HIVE so he or she will be worth $500M at some point, who am I to argue with that?
That said, when I see the behavior of some of the whales, it is evident they fail to see the big picture. Short-sighted activities rarely work out well in the long run.
@transisto posted an article a little over a week ago calling out his fellow whales. In that post, he pointed out some of the absurd behavior that is taking place on here. Without using these words, basically he was calling those people short-sighted (his tone actually makes me think he looks at them a lot worse than that).
Here is the article if you missed it:
https://steemit.com/steem/@transisto/whales-witnesses-we-have-to-talk
To be blunt: Self upvoting in this manner is flat out naive and stupid. Anyone who believe in this method will be proven to be idiotic by what I write next. Those who engage in this behavior are acting just like bankers. They scrounge around trying to make every dime they can for themselves while also rewarding their buddies. Few from the outside share in the wealth. Isn't it ironic we see some on here who rail against the system doing the same thing?
In this example, I am going to use the presumption one has 1M HP worth $1.00 each (easy math).
Today we are starting with an account of $1M. Ignoring the numbers I first mentioned, if this person wants $10M, how does he or she get there? Obviously, rewarding oneself was created in the design of the system. Ergo, our account holder can use 10 votes a day on him or herself. Let us say that voting brought in $2,000 a day, that is roughly $750K a year. At this rate, it would take our whale 12 years to reach $10M (I realize the $2,000 would increase as the SP increase but let's keep it simple). Of course, being a banker means that one is living with a very healthy ROI.
Naturally, the second way that one can get this account to $10M is by having the price of $HIVE go from $1-$10.
So which is more likely, our whale collecting $2,000 a day, everyday including holidays, for 8-10-12 years or $HIVE going to $10?
Everyone can guess at what my answer is.
We see another tactic on here that people use to increase their ROI. There are many who charge others "rent" to use their HP. Why isn't that nice and cuddly? Of course, the renter assumes all the risk that he or she will net more HP in return than is paid out in rent.
Hold crap Batman. There are a number of whales on here who are the $HIVE bank. Now personally, I have not checked into the rates so perhaps others on here can tell me. Are these individuals charging rates that are close to the FED making them bankers?
It is often said that economic systems need credit to expand. I disagree. Economic systems need money to expand. Credit, in this instance, comes in the form of loans with interest attached to them.
We really do not have much of a solution outside this system. Cryptocurrency offers incredible opportunity to innovate something entirely different.
Fortunately, there are many who see through this and are taking action. I personally experienced some of this generosity (and long term thinking) and it excites me to see it expanding.
It appears that @fulltimegeek and @stellabelle have their competitive juices going. They are competing to get as much money out there as they can. However, unlike the bankers, this comes no strings attached. They are not "renting" the HP but delegating it to those they feel are doing all they can to push this site forward. My view is they understand the long term view of this site and how to make it successful. This will also add to the value of the Hive blockchain which, in time, should make $HIVE appreciate.
To see what they are doing, here is an article @stellabelle put up:
Once again we go to the numbers to see what happens. @fulltimegeek delegated 5,000 HP to me so I will use that as a basis. I will also state that I did not look at their wallets so I have no idea of the total HP each has. That said, let us presume they each give out 5,000 $HIVE to 10 people (50K) on a 500K account. That means they delegated 10% of their SP which comes off their personal voting power.
The ten people who received the HP have 10 votes at 100% daily to maintain the VP. This means there are a total of 100 votes. This is a minimum total since we know few people vote at 100%. So what is the average vote? Let us say that it is 25% VP (which is still most likely too high); the 10 people delegated now have 400 votes each day. This means that they can positively affect 400 different people.
Please bear in mind, ten people is only one person's delegation. There are two of them which doubles the number to 20. Hence 800 people possibly can be positively affect by the SP these two whales delegated.
I realize that people do not vote for a person only once and it is common to give someone a few upvotes a day. My point is that no matter how you look at it, if @stellabelle and @fulltimegeek spent the day voting at 1%, they would not be able to reach as many people
The downside of all this is that their VP goes down by 10%. If each of their votes is worth $25, it is now $22.50. That means they are getting less per vote.
These two individuals are not operating out of a different mindset. Instead, they realize they will make a lot more money by the value of $HIVE appreciating. For this to happen, getting other people making money on Hive is paramount.
There it is folks, the solution to what people have been complaining about. Delegation of HP by those who have it enhances the entire ecosystem. One person cannot be in as many places as 10. There are a lot of articles and comments on here. The power is from many people participating and growing it. I used the example of 2 whales, what would the numbers look like if 10 of them did this? You would be looking at 100 people getting increased curation rewards while also positively affecting via upvotes up to 8,000 articles each day.
It is time we all stopped thinking like bankers and, instead, thought ecosystem. The holy grail here is the growth and expansion of the ecosystem, not putting as many HP in our wallets as we can. Truth be told, approaching it in this manner will ultimately make each person's wallet more valuable. These two whales understand that. I only hope many others are following suit.
If you liked this article, give it an upvote and rehive.
Pictures by google images.
One day the value of Steem will be $ 1000, other things are less interesting to me
If STEEM is $1000, I wont care about too much either. LOL
Very informative and detailed article. You work is very original qu
The other angle is this: Bob has a million Steem Power. Bob upvotes holoz0r, as a result, holoz0r has more Steem power and is likely to upvote Jane.
Because holoz0r has more Steem Power thanks to Bob, Jane now has more Steem Power and upvotes Sarah.
Just because you don't immediately see a ROI it doesnt mean it is a good idea. Building the community and your audience up is far more important and will eventually be more rewarding than current, dare I use such a word... regimes.
I try to stay out of these topics and focus on creating content, but you've articulated your point of view so well I felt I should weigh in.
Thank you for weighing in @holoz0r especially since it isnt something you normally do.
And yes I agree creating great content and building a following (dare I say...a community) is much more important. Nevertheless, it seems that too many are looking for the shortcuts...which is their right.
I like your scenario, if the votes are passed around. From that point of view, too often, from what I can see, is the votes end up in the same hands...on the same people's posts....Bob starts the process and Sarah completes it by voting Bob.
Not exactly how it works but you get my point.
Thanks again for the thoughtful comment. I appreciate the interaction and discussion.
I think that you're 100% right on this one. The best way to do well from steem is to increase its value. To do this we need to create more demand for it and like you said, spreading it around helping people grow and attracting new users will do this. If people can see that they will have a chance on here there is much more chance that they will stay and get involved.
Its about the long term view and not just what they can get right now. With that said i doubt that they will hand over free delegation but if they even rented it at a better rate that allowed them to still earn but let the renter get a high power amount.
@eileenbeach has voted on behalf of @minnowpond.
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Agreed @taskmaster4450. What we need is some game theoretical algorithms to encourage whales in this manner. Maybe an algorithm where delegating SP grants a better ROI than self upvoting?
In the long run what will raise everyone's wealth is the fixed upper limit on those cryptocurrencies that have it. Inflation is an elite tax tool and drastically underestimated on how damaging it is. They get away with it because the industrial / tech revolution has raised up many people just a little bit, but it would have been much greater.
This is truly an amazing thing they are doing. I know myself, as well as many others, have been recipients of @stellabelle and @fulltimegeek's generosity and reading this post has really helped me understand more about steemit, steem and delegations.
Definitely a nice article on how some people on this site should look at the bigger picture! I told you before how I’m trying to get my friends to join Steemit. Most of the time it’s an easy sell. Why bother ranting on Facebook when you can do it here in a better community, and maybe even make a little $ doing it
Even making 5 cents is a lot more than they make on Facebook.
Plus that 5 cents could well be $5 in a couple years.
Exactly, taskmaster! I like spending my time more on Steemit, anyway! I deleted my Facebook app a couple weeks ago!
Then there's the lack of censorship, which is also appealing. FB has no such appeal.
Whales orcas and others hate bots but they don't bother about newbies and others. So obviously I suggest newbies others to stop following anyone above 70 rep as they don't pass along in community.
Definitely, Whales act like a capitalised MNC. Whales do not consider content, Its just consider bit. so It shoud be stop right now. Otherwais, it will revoke all the great objectives of steem family. special thanks to @taskmaster4450 for such a great writing.
Great perspective on how whales with long-term vision can really help the ecosystem to improve! I've read a lot of your posts, and I think you deserve the delegation you got.
Thank you @josephsavage
Now it is to be a good steward of that delegation...trying to pass it around as much as I can.
Help others to move their accounts forward and provide some incentive and excitement.
You are a true visionary @taskmaster4450. I only wish I had more time to dedicate to learning about the STEEM blockchain.
Thankfully your articles distill the info in a way I can easily digest.
Thank you for that.
Wow, I didn't even know you could do some of the things you mentioned, like the whole delegation of Steem thing.
Oh, and the article was spot on by the way, so thanks for sharing! I will re-Steem it too!
Appreciate you stopping by to read my post on Wednesday ColorChallenge I hope you have a nice day .you have my vote @mannyfig1956
Great article. I am starting to see a lot of less than desirable activity as well, and I am new. I am hoping that the market corrects and this whole steem thing gets up and running right. I am hoping that the problems are worked out and the community keeps things in perspective. Until then, I am just a little fish in a very big pond trying to get my social followers to come on over, after all, the water is fine.
There are challenges and it is easy to get swept up in the negativity. Read some of my other posts where I put a price tag of $50B on this blockchain...or where I look at everything as 10 x higher.
STEEM is going up...count on it. There is a lot going on here in spite of some of the games played.
Hi nice post I also believe that gaming the system too much will not bring the right content and mass adaption in steemit.
However, like all users here I also came here to make money. So I am probably a hypocrite but I try not to vote on my own comments (Only my blog as a reward for me to actually finish one. Yes I am bad person x_x ).
Also I think you messed up your batman reeference. I think its supposed to be "Holy crap Batman" rather than "Hold crap batman"... hmm or your acting like joker then that makes a lot of sense.
That's my 2 satoshi
:p
huge post @taskmaster4450 ! @antonburton will be contacting you shortly regarding you coming on Crypto Nights (he wants to talk Dapps!) We have just uploaded an episode that will interest you regarding the future of steemit!
Very good....he wants to jump right into the deep end of pool. LOL
nice article, thank you
Hey @taskmaster4450,
you got my 100% upvote of $0.03 precious cents.....please don't lend it out to any aspiring banker-whales or bots.
:D
Following you!
Thanks for Information. Nice
https://steemit.com/business/@liliya15/keshberi
Good