RE: Basic Game Theory: Why Steemit Whales Won’t Sell Past a Certain Point

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Basic Game Theory: Why Steemit Whales Won’t Sell Past a Certain Point

in steemit •  8 years ago 

You are good at whale fishing, but bad at game theory. In your analogy, the problem is that there are many shepherds shearing a sheep. It is a Tragedy of the Commons, and whales that do not cash out will end up being the bagholders.

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With all due respect I disagree, this isnt a Tragedy of the Commons scenario. In a Tragedy of the Commons scenario the main reason it happens is because actors aren't incentivized against using a public good. Steemit has many incentives put specifically in place to sway people from selling and holding instead long term. The incentives put forth by steemit to obtain more profit by holding long term is the sole reason this becomes a game theory problem.

The incentives for holding long-term decrease if the price has a long-term downward trend. That said, I really don't believe many people powering down, whale or not, is a problem. The "money" produced often stays in the ecosystem. It creates trading opportunities on the internal market.

If it's not Tragedy of the Commons then it certainly has potential to be some form of the Prisoners Dilemma.

👍nice post, nice theory @calaber24p

Tragedy of the Commons doesn't apply only to "public" goods but to shared resources. Liquidity in the trading books is a shared resource. If you prefer, you can also see it as a prisoner dilemma: if not all the whales stop cashing out, the ones who keep doing so are the ones who keep damaging the price but get the benefit of cashing out earlier. This creates a positive incentive for being selfish.

I was just using public good as a way to say that it was open to many participants, when I think the whale situation should be more studied as more of an oligopoly. I like the prisoner dilemma approach better. However I see it just as another possibility to what CAN happen. There are many possible outcomes in economics and I think that both are equally as likely. It depends on what kind of people the actors are.

nice

cabi5boh! First reward over 300$ ! you got in steemit!! :)

Agreed. It remains to be seen how a 100% annualized inflation rate will affect exchange rate and, consequently, the system as a whole, because all value in the system is more or less derived from the value of non-powered-up steem.

I have found out that many people, after successful whale fishing instantly did power down, because they are afraid steemit is not going to work, however it is not already said that all whales not selling will become bagholders.