Coolest business card ever, courtesy of the amazing @nateaguila
I know it has been way too long since I've done a witness update post, so I figure it's about time I let everyone know what I've been up to around here these last few months!
Let's kick things off by talking about recent progress on the Steem Keychain browser extension. For those of you who don't know, Steem Keychain is a browser extension similar to Metamask, but for Steem. It allows you to interact with apps built on the Steem platform without having to enter your private keys into a website!
In addition to interacting with apps, the Steem Keychain extension also allows you to easily manage multiple accounts and perform actions such as transferring STEEM, SBD, and Steem Engine tokens, managing witness votes, managing SP delegation, and more right from the extension. In January we released the extension for the Firefox web browser, but it is also available for the Google Chrome and Brave browsers, and I believe there's a way to install Chrome extensions in Opera as well.
There is a large list of Steem-based apps and services that have already integrated with Steem Keychain, but we are also pushing really hard to get it integrated into steemit.com and we would appreciate your help and support to encourage Steemit, Inc. to follow through with that. You can read more about why it's important to integrate Keychain into steemit.com in this post: https://steemit.com/steemit/@yabapmatt/steemits-security-values--how-steem-keychain-can-help
In January, @aggroed and I, in partnership with @harpagon, launched the Steem Engine platform, which is a smart-contracts enabled "layer 2" platform that runs on top of the Steem blockchain.
In the initial version, Steem Engine allows anyone to create their own simple token that is run through transactions on the Steem blockchain, and about a month ago we released the decentralized exchange on Steem Engine so that all of the tokens on the platform can be traded against STEEM!
A number of projects had been building their own systems to create a token on top of Steem, which is great, but the problem is that every app and service would then have to do a separate integration for each individual token they wanted to support. That lack of standardization makes it very difficult to create an ecosystem around these tokens, which is really important for providing value and gaining adoption.
By creating a platform that anyone can use to create their tokens, it allows tools like Steem Keychain and apps like SteemPeak to support every token that's created instantly with just a single integration.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for Steem Engine though, and the really exciting stuff is yet to come. As soon as next week we (in partnership with @someguy123) will be adding pegged versions of some other major cryptos to the platform to use on the decentralized exchange, which will work just like the current STEEMP token. After that, we're planning some really exciting updates around running security token offerings (STOs) on the platform and implementing a Steem-like distribution model that the various tokens can utilize.
Our overall goal with Steem Engine is to give all of the existing projects that have been creating tokens on other platforms, forking Steem, or just giving up, a way to accomplish their goals entirely on the Steem platform and to attract new projects to build on Steem where they would have previously discounted it.
I also want to be clear that Steem Engine is NOT the same as the Smart Media Tokens (SMT) project being developed by Steemit, Inc. While it does provide similar functionality, we don't intend for it to be a competitor to SMTs but rather an additional option that is available for Steem apps to use, as well as a way to keep projects on Steem and let them get started until SMTs are available.
Last, but certainly not least, is Steem Monsters. Since this is a witness update post and not a Steem Monsters update, instead of focusing on all of the exciting things we have planned for the game I want to focus on our plans to grow the game and attract new players from outside of the Steem ecosystem.
@aggroed and I have been pushing really hard to promote the game to other large and active crypto/blockchain communities. It's generally been a slow and difficult process to be "accepted" by another crypto community, but we're making progress and we have some exciting opportunities in the works which have the potential to double our player base almost overnight.
Of course, every new player brought into the game is also a new Steem user, and we're excited to have the opportunity and responsibility of onboarding thousands of new people to the Steem ecosystem!
Additionally, we have been using every available opportunity to go out to meetups and blockchain conferences and promote the game and, indirectly, the Steem platform. I'll be at the Penn Blockchain Conference at the University of Pennsylvania next weekend (which should be a great event with speakers including Charlie Lee), as well as at the Philly Entrepreneur's Expo in May. In any case, at every event I've attended, one of the most common questions I get is "why did you build this on Steem?".
Sometimes the inquirer is generally curious, and other times they think I must have been dropped on my head as a child, but in either case it's a fantastic opportunity to enlighten them about the myriad benefits the Steem platform has to offer.
Steem Monsters has created nearly 2,500 new accounts to date and I talk to people on almost a daily basis who have been introduced to Steem through the game. Our goal is to grow the player base of the game ten-fold over the next 12 - 24 months which should increase that number of accounts created, and new users introduced to Steem, to 25,000 or more.
That's All Folks
So there you have it. That's what I've been doing. Now you know. I spend pretty much every free minute I have working on Steem-related projects, and I'm incredibly grateful to everyone in the Steem community who has supported me and helped make that possible!
A sleepless night which gave me the perfect opportunity to catch up on your post. OMG, I must be so behind on steem-related activities because in removing some witness votes earlier, I noticed you are now numero uno! Congrats Matt! So happy for you and so well deserved for all the work you put in to the Steem ecosystem.
The blockchain conference at Penn sounds interesting. Finally a weekend event but I think the topic of discussion is beyond my expertise. Good luck at Penn and the Fillmore!
Oh come on, you should totally come to the conference this weekend! You probably know more than a lot of people there just by using Steem for so long. DM me on Discord and I can give you a code for 70% off the ticket price.
You give me too much credit, but I appreciate the sentiment. :)
No amount of cajoling could get me away this weekend. That code would have come in handy if I could have gone (thank you for the offer). I will make it to one of these events one day!
I tried to talk my way into going.....
We have to finish tax this weekend.
BUT I get to meet my favorite witness!
Tax.
It's going to be a beautiful day.
Tax.
I could discover some Steem Monsters gameplay secrets ;)
Tax.
Congratulations on all the amazing work. Keep it up!
I gave him a !sneeze already. It is wonderful.
You have been infected by the King of Disease!
Will you quarantine yourself?
Or will you spread the plague?
!sneeze
Posted using Partiko iOS
This user has already been infected! Sneezing at them again does not have any effect.
You and the team surrounding you are absolute machines. Fantastic work. A well deserved witness vote, and one I've maintained for ages.
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Steemit Inc 2.0
No need to degrade their efforts with the comparison.
!sneeze on.
You have been infected by the King of Disease!
Will you quarantine yourself?
Or will you spread the plague?
You deserve a !sneeze for your work on here also.
This user has already been infected! Sneezing at them again does not have any effect.
It's my second instance of the disease.
Posted using Partiko Android
Yes, but what have you done for this ecosystem lately?
You're an exceptional gem of a man and an extremely gifted web developer. I'm honored to be your partner in many of these endeavors!
You've done some really great work with Steem monsters. This is one of the things we need for steem's success - a game like that that reaches out past the confines of steem. I've just started playing it in the last two weeks, and it's clear from some of the names of my opponents that they have created their account on steem because of steem monsters. Such a great way to bring in more users to the blockchain. Keep up the good work, guys!
Yaba rules the world!!! And that is the best business card ever.
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And a !sneeze to you.
You have been infected by the King of Disease!
Will you quarantine yourself?
Or will you spread the plague?
Hi @yabapmatt!
Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 8.404 which ranks you at #10 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has not changed in the last three days.
In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 181 contributions, your post is ranked at #1. Congratulations!
Evaluation of your UA score:
Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server
!sneeze on.
You have been infected by the King of Disease!
Will you quarantine yourself?
Or will you spread the plague?
Hi @yabapmatt ! We are so excited to connect with you again as moonSTEEM V2 is NOW LIVE and BIGGER !
Try your luck, possibility to win more than 300 STEEM every round !
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Earn tokens by playing, delegating, bringing friends, investing and get a share of profits !
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Thanks for all your great work making steem a better place for its users @yabapmatt!
Please do not !sneeze on the post.
"a plague on all your houses" - Shakespeare.
Off to spread this far and wide!
Posted using Partiko Android
You have been infected by the King of Disease!
Will you quarantine yourself?
Or will you spread the plague?
Yaba = Beast Mode
Posted using Partiko iOS
You are doing great help to steem ecosystem. We all are proud of your efforts.
You've made the Steemit Minute for today! Congrats!
Check out the Video Here: https://steemit.com/dtube/@reseller/wnmqcmzx
This is worth a !sneeze.
I can’t thank you enough for all that you do. Your team rocks and are paving the way for STEEM to succeed. Your hard work is greatly appreciated. I am having so much fun with SM now that I can compete.
Of course you have my vote.
Very well deserved that either you or your buddy @aggroed have been in the no1 Witbess Spot a lot of times lately :) great work!
Hi, @yabapmatt!
You just got a 3.27% upvote from SteemPlus!
To get higher upvotes, earn more SteemPlus Points (SPP). On your Steemit wallet, check your SPP balance and click on "How to earn SPP?" to find out all the ways to earn.
If you're not using SteemPlus yet, please check our last posts in here to see the many ways in which SteemPlus can improve your Steem experience on Steemit and Busy.
@yabapmatt GOLD LEGENDARY !
I want one of those business cards!
You are doing a great job and this place is much better with you around. Keep it up. I persobaly use all of your products and I'm grateful to you for them.
You have been infected by the King of Disease!
Will you quarantine yourself?
Or will you spread the plague?
Thanks for the awesome update!
I'm curious what this other crypto cummunity is all about?
HIGHLY rEsteemed!
That's a cool card you made of yourself :D
Great stuff Matt. I have my monsters, my token, and the keychain to access them thanks to you.
A much deserved spot at the head of the witness ranks, awesome!
Hi @yabapmatt, thank you for running so many cool services. hope keychain private key management suggestion: https://github.com/MattyIce/steem-keychain/issues/80 will be implemented soon. Thanks.
Keep up the good work @yabapmatt just change things for the better. :D
Awesome work you have done! Steem Monsters is going to the Moon and I love Steem Keychain and Steem-engine!
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Buenas,le invito visitar mi blog y contar con su apoyo,soy venezolana,crisis muy fuerte en mi pais que muere gente de hambre,esto feo,aqui he encontrado personas de buen corazon y tenemos mucho contacto,espero cuando pueda mre visite y ayude con su voto,Dios le pague y gracias.
Thanks for being so valuable to steem and for creating so much for it. I'm still voting for you as a witness all this time. I reached the reputation 70 and I'm happy to inform you about that. ☺
Hi. Sir we are steembet team. We want to contact with u for promotional ADs. Pls reply us.
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You are awesome man, thank you!!!
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I just started using the Brave browser and attempted to add the Keychain extension. What I found was the ability to add the CHROME extension. Is that the one to use or is there a specific one for Brave? I'm afraid to just TRY adding it to Brave in case something goes wrong. I suppose it is safe to have the extension on BOTH Chrome and Brave at the same time?
Thanks for your time!
Yes, you just add the chrome extension to brave. You can have it installed on both chrome and brave at the same time although you will have to add your accounts separately on each.
Thanks for the quick response. Love keychain, so want to use it no matter which browser I use.
thanks ! @yabapmatt :) ♥♩♬♬
☞ https://partiko.app/clixmoney/x9c5jamy?referrer=bluengel
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Hello, Good evening.
Please, are you Matt Rosen on twitter? Thanks.
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That's neat stuff but one thing that hasn't really worked for most of the life-time of Steem has been the Steem Dollar.
Witnesses: Let's make Steem Dollars worth one dollar. You do not need to fund me a single Steem Dollar for that. All you need to do is set your price feed to accurately
reflect the USD price of the STEEM token. The market will do the rest.
For you @themarkymark and @yabapmatt, your price feeds are high. Looking at BitTrex the exchange rate is 0.223 USD/STEEM as of 15:17 UTC but your price feed is 0.238 / STEEM. It's a full cent higher than the real price. If you would simply update your price feeds more often I think that should take care of the difference. Let us know where these prices are coming from, I may want to do some arbitrage.
What happens when prices are too high? The Steem Dollar has weak backing. How much does a cent difference make? If all Witnesses had that and I convert $1 of Steem Dollars into Steem, I wont get $1 worth of Steem instead I'll get 0.96 USD worth of Steem. This is often where the price goes. I have a high opinion of @aggroed but setting that aside, @aggroed has its price feed 0.268 USD. Which means the Steem Dollar when converted with that price only backed with 85 cents worth of Steem.
These witnesses @steempeak, @aggroed, and @drakos have price feeds that are way too high.
How the price feed is supposed to work:
The published price feed should reflect that of real price of Steem in USD. See the white paper. This is so the Steem dollar can be well backed by a USD worth of Steem. When these prices are too high the backing just doesn't work. For most of the history of Steem it hasn't worked.
Please fix your price feeds. You can get them from some exchange.
Hi Yabapmatt,
Great work! Big kudos to you.
I wonder if we could promote our game on https://steembottracker.com/bottracker.html? What's your discord id? Could you shoot me a message at shadowd#3081 ?
Thank you!