We're facing a small crisis in regards to the current situation with STEEM and SBD value, Steemit user retention as well as resistance towards ideal conditions for investors to enter. While plenty of talk has been seen in various posts here on steemit and in the chat channels a lack of actual action continues to see the price of both STEEM & SBD fall. It's time as a community to change this immediately.
I'm writing this post as a proposal to my fellow STEEM network inhabitants, witnesses and developers to follow my lead if they agree that STEEM & SBD have future value.
What Can Be Done About This?!
We're still very much on the "maiden voyage" of the STEEM platform, with the high post payout honeymoon phase now over and fading in peoples minds we've got to shift our focus into the longterm game plan: start offering more lucrative incentives for both current and future readers, curators, content creators and investors.
Setting the Steem Dollar Interest Rate Higher
Scaling the Account Creation Fee up too!
What that picture above is my latest witness update today. I've set the Steem Dollar yearly gain to 20% APR as well as scaled the account creation fee to 51.337 STEEM worth around $6.85 USD at the time of writing this post. Not only will this encourage people to convert their STEEM payouts to SBD and hold for more profits but also help enforce the peg as well as create demand and stronger hands.
This change across the network would see people gaining 1.66666667% on SBD balances monthly and have the account creation fee Just under $7.00 USD of STEEM.
Converting STEEM Payouts to SBD in the Internal Market
Help Fight STEEM Inflation Instead of Dumping
The Problem: People are taking their STEEM and dumping it on the market rather than holding on for a large reward later. This causes the STEEM price to plummet.
Solution: Instead of taking your STEEM and Converting it to BTC consider instead swapping it for SBD on the internal market to collect interest paid out monthly.
Powering Up STEEM Rather Than Selling Helps Everyone
By Powering up Your STEEM Payouts Vote Power Grows
The Problem: Content creators are preferring to liquidate their payouts for BTC instead of powering up or converting to SBD and holding. This strains prices.
Solution: Instead of taking your STEEM and selling on the market it consider powering up your or converting to SBD and holding for the interest paid monthly.
A Call to All Users, Witnesses and Developers
Converting STEEM to SBD in the internal market greatly helps balance out the hyper inflation we see with STEEM. Do your part where you can. Every little bit helps.
Fellow Witnesses: Please consider adjusting your APR rate to 20% or more and upping creation fees! We're the ones who need to lead by example. Help me Help STEEM.
Vote @klye for Witness!
https://steemit.com/~witnesses
A Proud STEEMbassador of Canada
(News on @steemcanada Campaign Soon!)
Since we don't have as many options we have been doing the following.
Is there anything else our small team should be doing?
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Sounds like you're doing your part! You're an asset to the network sir.
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We do have some extra computers from our old servers should we consider mining STEEM or something?
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You could! With the patch to the mining code recently it appears that more users have been successful in mining blocks. However I'm not entirely sure at this point a miner would run in profit.. Perhaps if you have cheap / free electricity.
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No not cheap unless we move to China :-) Is there any added value if we become a witness or are there plenty already?
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I love your posts mainly because they are slightly absurd......I see your points here which seem good.......what about user retention????
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This is all incredibly confusing to me, as a noob (I am reading and learning). But assuming I just believe you know what you are saying, since I have no steem or anything else, how do I help? I really don't care about bitcoins or Steem Dollars, I just want to help (I came here because of the distributed nature of it and the emphasis on authorship and avoiding censorship).
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As an author, just keep writing. Not everyone can contribute in every possible way, but that does not mean your contributions are unwelcome. If one of your posts becomes popular then you will earn some rewards and then you can consider trading them for SBD or powering them up. Until then, welcome to steem. As you say, it can be confusing, but just take things in at your own pace.
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Here's what I have done and am doing:
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The platform needs more than just inflation and user growth. The systems that we compare to like Facebook, do now, after having lived on expectations for a while, have an economy based on commercials and big data collection. The latter is of course a no go zone, but advertising is not. They already discuss how to make a foundation to get fiat money into the steem system. When that happens Steem will again be interesting to investors an it will rise... If not we have wasted some time, but that happens every second. It's called life. Of course this aspect is scary for wage earners, but I have worked for free so many times in my life, and nothing really happens, except you continue to be a vagrant. This is just a crisis and if we get over it (and I think we will) there will be bonuses to all who stood it out.
For now I actually do follow your advice. I have only received Steem Power for my posts since the possibility for doing so was there. No need to speculate against Steemit when it is going downwards.
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I like the 20% idea.
Another thing I think would be to maybe somewhere show in your wallet how much interest one is earning by day.
We do that with Steem Power, why not do it with SBD?
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Upvoted, but I don't actually agree with the idea of increasing SBD interest rates..
We're currently trying to lower the amount of SBD "debt" , and this would encourage SBD hoarding imo.
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It would encourage people to hold. You're right.. But is retaining value on the network not worth reward?
As for SBD "debt" I'm not sure I follow you.. Care to TL;DR it?
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Retaining value in Steem Power is what should be rewarded , this post from @timcliff (under heading "The SBD Debt Problem") explains it better then I could, but ..
TL;DR - If price continues to fall, big SBD holders cashing in will inflate the steem supply and create a feedback loop to push price down even further.
We also have measures in place that will break the SBD peg, making it even less desirable to hodl..
I think this possibility is already starting to be priced in over the last few days.
I don't know what the solution is - I'm mostly hoping new site and tech improvements, marketing efforts and steemfest hype help reverse the trend..
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Hi @ausbitbank - I've actually talked this over with @kyle and @smooth in the witness and price channels and I support what they are doing. Raising the interest rate of SBD can be done in addition to what I was proposing in my post. (I suggested doing this in my post as well actually.)
There are actually multiple problems all trying to be solved at once. There are things that people can do which are better than others. For example, if you have STEEM, buying SBD is better than selling it on the exchange. Technically powering it up is even better than that, but it is relative :)
[Edit] To provide a better example, buying SBD, converting to STEEM and powering up is probably one of the best things that can be done. Buying SBD and holding is not as good, but it is better than selling on the exchange :)
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Aah okay good to know, with so many variables its getting hard to understand what we're supposed to do to help..
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Yeah, I know. I actually started by proposing that we make the interest rate negative (to encourage users to burn it like a hot potato) but @smooth talked me out of it in that it could create too much burning / downward pressure all at once.
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I think @timcliff summed it up in his reply better than I can! Thank you Tim!
There are multiple things that need to be tweaked. This is just the start. :)
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I've been wondering, why has payout gone to full Steem and Steem power? Does that not just exacerbate the problem by diluting the supply of Steem on the market and forcing those who are selling to dump more and more and more? Wouldn't it make more sense to go the opposite direction and give more post rewards as SBD, thus removing more Steem from the diluted market, and slow down the selling rate? Am I crazy here or are we going in the complete opposite direction of where we should if we want the inflation to slow down?
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It is because the "capacity" of the system to handle SBD has reached an exceeded its maximum. As some of the other comments noted, there are multiple challenges occurring at the same time and this is one of them.
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This post has been linked to from another place on Steem.
Learn more about and upvote to support linkback bot v0.5. Flag this comment if you don't want the bot to continue posting linkbacks for your posts.
Built by @ontofractal
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I am not sure if this will fix the problem but it may help... I think we have to slash witness pay, cut the inflation rate, AND do some of these other investment incentivizing actions you are talking about.
One thing is for certain, this literally is a crisis moment for Steemit the site and Steem the currency... I just hope the founders and developers see that and can act before it is too late...
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You've been misled about the need to slash witness pay. Witness rewards account for approximately 3% of the daily inflation (literally 1 STEEM out of 30 or so STEEM produced per block). That is not at all where the massive STEEM inflation comes from and isn't "draining value" to any significant extent if at all. It is also naturally decreasing over time.
There are a few haters and trolls (or well-meaning but misguided people) who describe witnesses as greedy parasites. Instead of blindly following their rhetoric I suggest you come on the #witness channel on steemit chat and actually talk to some of the witnesses about what they are doing (and spending) to help support and build Steem. If you think that the platform and ecosystem are completely perfect and finished, then this isn't work that is needed. I do happen to think it is needed, and it is the witness rewards that make a lot of it possible.
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@klye sorry to post here
@smooth am sorry to try to reach out on you here but I can't reach you on steemit chat .
For some reasons, I can't log in there either - keeps saying server won't load but please get back at me. Thank you
EDIT : @smooth thank you for getting back at me !
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steemit.chat has been down for maintenance. When it is back up I will reach you there.
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No worries man! This whole network exists for communications. :P
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Thanks for the clarification. I haven't looked at the numbers to see for myself, just trusted what I had read... (my first mistake). I do know that there are many well meaning witnesses and that the pay they receive doesn't even cover the projects they are currently funding (like yourself) but others it seems like it could be an overpay. My opinion would be for money from other sources be used to pay for those projects, sources such as some kind of crowdfunding. Your witness pay should not have to be used to pay for projects... The fact that the harder you work the less you make is exactly the wrong kind of system we want setup here.
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IMO it isn't a question of overpay, but underperform. Two sides of the same coin, but the fix is a little different, Vote 'em out. We can find 19 who all perform at a high level. There are many good candidates in the top 50, even some in the top 30 who would be relatively easy to move in and replace someone who might not be delivering.
As for 'pay' vs. 'budget', I view it as a more of a business than a job. Witnesses who, as a service business, deliver the most value should be voted in, and if they can do all that and still make a profit, great, but it doesn't need to be guaranteed. Anyone who doesn't find it an attractive proposition can step aside easily.
None of this precludes other funding options such as crowdfunding though. Currently witness pay doesn't even add up to a lot when it comes to the sort of funding you need for big projects -- about $150/day in locked funds (at times it has, perhaps in the future it might again). A witness who organizes a successful crowdfund or leverages other revenue sources besides witness rewards and gets amazing solutions built is doing a good job too IMO.
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Good points.
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We should elect witnesses who deliver the most value to the network. There is plenty of work to be done supporting, improving, building, and building upon this platform. No reason we can't find just 19 (plus some runner-up) witnesses who are all absolutely great.
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I like how you politely dealt with that Rep 25 person @klye , that was very nicely handled ! ! !
Personally I hope the people developing Steemit know their game plan, so I am not concerned; this will work or not. Personally I am herein for the journey since no one has any real idea of the likely outcomes . . .
I will REsteem in a few hours...
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Steemit needs some max. SP marketing.
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@kyle I've read @smooth's post after I had read your comments here. I guess I comprehend why your intentions to grow the debt could be good (until it is controlled carefully).
I'd also dug into some of your posts (& comments) before I finally voted for both of you.
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Hey, what about us folks who need the cash from payouts (Not all of us have good savings like white folks because of our stupid country's politics and economics)?
Just convert Steem to SBD and wait for a month before cashing out that SBD?
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I'm white and am in debt up to my ears. Race doesn't dictate wealth. I've never been wealthy. I've worked for wealthy black people before. Color of skin does not make us suddenly leprechauns that grow gold out of our ass. ;)
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Thank you for your wise comment, @dwinblood.
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No clue but if you ever find out be sure to let me know. :)
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Every little bit helps. Do understand that these are experimental blockchain systems and losses are possible. But if you believe in Steem and want to help then keeping your money in the system one way or another is one way to do so.
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@dwinblood I live in South Africa. What makes you think white folks have good savings. I can show you my bank account and I definitely do not have any savings. We have a whole stupid government!
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Upvoted, plus I've already voted for you as witness... PLUS I'm powering up at every opportunity simply because I want the power of my vote to mean something when I give it.
I may consider holding SBD at a later date, but for now, I buy Steem when I can and convert every SBD I earn, up to and including using SBD to promote my posts.
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You're welcome - but I'm not sure about the 'noble' part... I'm enjoying this platform and therefore, it's down to me (and everyone else who enjoys it) to make sure it works.
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Thanks @klye for the excellent suggestions! I followed your lead :)
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Cheers Tim! @smooth was the one who started my thinking on raising the APR rate.
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Right on. @smooth starts us thinking on a lot of great ideas :)
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How do you fight human nature? How do you convince someone to hold out for 100$ in... one year at best, when they can have 10$ tomorrow? No easy feat. You can't ask too much.
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One real problem is am not a great author, thus I power down every week; however I love Steemit so i keep my steem active and do not sell it off.
But for others who hold a lot of steem or are not committed presenters or just lucky enough to gain some platform rewards or simply unable to Steemit they will always be selling.
Over time some things will balance out, however this is cryptocurrency so nothing will ever stabilize; wild swings are normal with bitcoin and other internet monies.
To expect steem to ever gain anything like a predictable price history is about the same as wishing the government would cancel income taxation. this means I might be a nice wish and is likely to happen just after cancer is cured and peace on Earth . . .
Maybe when aliens land and conquer the world their first act for humanity will to mandate a stable steem price point ; )
Thank you for being a miner ! ! ! : )
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Do you get interest on steem if you put it into savings?
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No, for both STEEM and SBD, savings does not change the interest at all. The savings feature is purely for security purposes; if your account is hacked, you have 72 hours to recover it before any savings funds can be taken.
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Excellent @klye.
Good to see you continuing to brainstorm to help make this platform a success.
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It's done.
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Thank you for following the lead of smooth and myself bitcoiner. I think this is a step in the right direction!
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I like some points. But I do not like a higher interest rate! Interest rates are a problem in and of themselves.
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