Statement on Softfork 0.22.2

Anyone following my blog will be absolutely unsurprised to see Softfork 22.2.

So, you might ask, what am I, a disabled witness doing making statements? Let me make it very clear once again, I am still a witness, and an elected representative. I issued an ultimatum after Hardfork 19 and rejected Hardfork 20 due to being thoroughly unsatisfied by the development and continued negligence of the basic fundamental issues facing Steem. I have discussed this time and time again over the years. Think of it as a form of protest, think of it as a strike. Of course, I'm the only one to have done so, so it has had zero impact. But I'm morally and ethically obligated to do what I believe in.

In short, I'm a protesting official who still reserves the right to support the network if the changes I demand are made. To remind everyone, these were my demands. 6 months later, I'd like to revise my demands, and definitely have fewer demands. At this point, all I ask for is inflation be reduced to be a sustainable level in the 2%-5% range, and power down period be reduced to 4 weeks.

Right, about the softfork 0.22.2. Obviously, it still doesn't meet my standards, so I'll continue to reject the Hardfork 20/21/22 lineage. That said, I would not have supported this fork, as I committed not to a year ago. You'll note that several witnesses made the same commitment and have now arguably reneged on it. The one loophole that existed in that commitment was moving to a different fork, but clearly, that is not what 0.22.2 does. The other loophole is that it's temporary, and that's certainly worth debating. I totally understand it and appreciate the witnesses' efforts though, under an existential threat to witnesses and the Steem chain as it exists today, it's a very understandable response.

Looking to the future, I'll be watching closely how things unfold, particularly how Justin Sun responds. Now that witnesses have fired first, the two options are either Sun will accelerate the move to Tron, or come to an agreement with witnesses for a long-term mutually beneficial transition plan. The optimist in me still does hope though that the witnesses, Steemit Inc / Justin Sun / Tron Foundation can come to an agreement. Make no mistake, however, Justin Sun likely wields far more influence and wealth than the entire Steem network combined, the ball's absolutely in his court. I'd still like to be back actively witnessing at some point, and hope whoever controls whichever chain in the future can improve it to the standards that I expect. (PS: Justin Sun has now responded, and I'm glad to see he continues to take the high road.)

As for the Steem community, keep doing what you do. If a split were to happen, you might have a choice to make at some point, or you can choose to keep supporting both Steems. I got some hate for recommending powering down recently. More than ever, I'd strongly recommend you do so now, and power down everything you can't afford to lose. Keep it liquid as a hedge, just in case there's a split. Of course, if you're a rational and risk-averse investor, you'd do well to liquidate your STEEM holdings and invest in more secure projects - there are a handful of project in the crypto space that have as much potential as Steem and growing at a faster pace. All the best.