SEC S17-W5 || Whales In Steem Blockchain

Edited Using Inshotpixabay

In the vast sea of cryptocurrency, there exist goliaths that can create waves with just a single move. These are the 'whales' - a selected group of entities or individuals that hold huge influence and wealth I'm the crypto market. Like the powerful blue whales that rules the seas, oceans, crypto whales are the giants of the digital asset system, commanding presence and inspiring awe with their massive holdings and trading powers which they can use to shape market trends, manipulate prices and more.....

Similarly, there are whales also in the steem blockchain because the platform (steemit) is built on blockchain technology. The same way whales are seen in the crypto world, that's the same way they're seen in the steem blockchain/ecosystem. These are people whom their every move is analyzed, watched and most times emulated by other steemians.

In this article we'll delve into the world of "Whale In Steem Blockchain" as part of the Steemit Engagement Challenge Season 17, Week 5. Let's explore together, the impact, influence of these steem whales.

On this prestigious platform called steemit, whales are users who have a significant amount of Steem Power(SP), which is the native currency of the platform, used for voting and curating contents.

Whales on the Steem Blockchain or platform are considered to be users with the following;

• A huge amount of Steem Power (Often in ten or hundreds of thousands)

• A significant amount of Steem staked.

• A high reputation score.

• A large following as well as influence within the community.

As influential members of the steem community, whales have several responsibilities they have to carry out dutifully. These responsibilities include;

• Content Curation: Whales help curates high-quality content, articles by voting on posts and comments, because they have a high amount of Steem Power (SP) used for carrying out transactions, which determines their visibility and rewards.

• Engagements: In community engagements, whales often participate in discussions, support newbies and provide feedback.

• Setting Trends: The platform's trends and popular topics can be shaped by whales by promoting and voting on specific contents.

• Maintaining Platform Integrity: Whales helps to maintain the integrity and quality of the platform by fishing out violators of the rules and regulations guiding it and ensuring adherence to it as well.

• Leading by example: Whales are expected to set good examples for the entire community, promoting constructive and positive behavior as seen leaders.

• Supporting creators and steem initiatives: Whales can help to support creators by voting on their content, which reward them with steem, steem power, SBD and TRX. These influential people may also help to grow the platform and its ecosystem by supporting steem related initiatives, events and projects

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Whales or rather called large-scale investors, immensely affect the value of cryptocurrencies and play a crucial role in the functioning of the steem blockchain. Below are the roles they play;

• Liquidity provision: Whales provides liquidity, making others to buy and sell by making large orders on exchanges.

• Network Effects: Whales make contribution to the network's growth and adoption by engaging in the space and enhancing it.

• Price Stabilization: There can be Stabilization of prices by whales by buying or selling to rectify market fluctuations.

• Community Leadership

• Content Promotion: Whales can help promote high quality contents on the space by supporting creator and authors.

• Ecosystem Growth: When whales support steem related projects, initiatives and events, therefore contributing to the ecosystem's development and growth.

• Market Manipulation: Impact on the cryptocurrency prices and market in general when whales buy and sell in large quantities, creating market trends and influencing smaller traders/investors.

• Steem Blockchain Maintenance: Whales enhances the maintenance of the block blockchain's integrity by voting against low-quality or violated /spam contents.

• Steem Dollar (SBD) Stabilization: In response to market fluctuations, Steem Dollar's value can be stabilized by whales by buying and selling.

There are different phases which whales on steem/ steemit typically go through in their activity and which can impact other users.

1. Accumulation phase: In this phase, the whales gets to buy and hold steem, increasing their steem power (SP) and influence. This phase can then lead to,;

• Price increases
• Encouragement

1. Holding phase: In this phase I picture as "holding phase", whales maintain their steem power (SP), therefore supporting creators, stabilizing the market and influencing trends.
2. Distribution phase: here whales "may" power down to sell reducing their steem power and influence. This phase can lead to decrease in price and uncertainty.
3. Active engagement phase: Participation in discussions, promotion of contents and supporting initiatives are all present in this phase and therefore will enhance community growth and quality contents.
4. Reaccumulation phase and withdrawal phase: in the reaccumulation phase, whales tend to build back their influence and steem power, starting a new cycle after undergoing a power down. And also in the withdrawal phase, whales may permanently or temporarily leave the platform, potentially causing market disruption and uncertainty.

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Users on the steemit platform are bound to face some challenges due to the presence of whales and below are few listed, plainly.

• Market Manipulation
• Voting power imbalance
• Unpredictable behavior
• Liquidity issues
• Price volatility

To protect their interest and investomen9 users can adopt the following strategies to achieve that aim;

• Long-term perspective
• Diversification
• Voting and engagement
• Steem power management
• Community building
• Stay informed and avoid violation of community rules

By having a good understanding of these potential challenges and adopting these strategies to tackle them, users ca find a nice and easy way to navigate through the steem blockchain even with the presence of whales.

To sum it all up, the presence of whales on steemit and the crypto world at large can have both negative and positive effects on the platform and its users. While whales can be of great value and immense influence to the community, their meaningful steem power and market impact can also create challenges such as price volatility and market manipulation.

Of all, steemit is a great community and it benefits from an engaged and diversed user base. And by working all in unity together, users can be able to build a well sustainable and vibrant platform for all..

Thanks for reading.

I invite @bossj23, @ahmedademola and @yerimah to participate.