Alright, Now HERE'S A Juicy little piece of Crypto News that I... am Far Too Late Addressing. This happened a couple weeks ago! That's like, 60 years in Internet time.
Fine. It's been covered to death and just like The Last Jedi, you either hate it or love it. That's right folks, Justin Sun is the Rian Johnson of the Crypto World.
Oh, side note. I do a lot of probably non-standard stupid shit to get the half ass results I want in digital editing. For example, I did a heal selection on Justin Sun's Face so I could basically do a really light transparent erase of the Rian Johnson face to match skin tones. This is the result:
ANYWAY, Back to The Actual Topic. The acquisition is still relatively new, and the actual amount of reliable information seems paltry at the moment. This makes sense, because honestly I think that there is gonna be a lot of changes before they settle on the final product. So, Let's try and glean from the ambiguous basic tweets that Sun has posted:
AND
Oh, That's not good. I don't wanna be the FUD guy here, but these post smack of a complete overhaul of the STEEM blockchain. He literally wants migrate the Steem Blockchain to TRON. Holy Shit. Any way you slice it, that's a REALLY big thing. The way it sounds, he wants to discuss token swaps, TRX airdrops, and more. That sounds a lot like he wants to basically replace STEEM. Damn.
Now this is the point where you gotta say, hold up just a damn minute. We aren't just some regular internet assholes here. We are Crypto internet assholes, and we follow this little gem of advice: No matter HOW Bad or Controverisal Something Sounds in This Space, We SHALL NOT Fall Victim To Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, or the machinations of some THOT at the club. We go full flaps on landing here.
So, What Has Been Done So Far? What Has Been the Reaction?
Well, the first thing you need to know about STEEM is that its blockchain is a DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake) system. This means that the when it comes to voting for stuff, the governance of the entire blockchain and changes made to it is contingent upon the stakeholders in the blockchain. That's a really simple "cliffnotes" explanation (since there are many types of DPoS protocols), but essentially it means this; those who help run the blockchain can control the direction things go.
In this case, they implemented a soft fork to prevent one of the largest token holders from voting. That's a big deal. a HUGE deal. And furthermore, it really shows the power of decentralized governance. In some regular ass corporation, you have the folks at the top. They say, "hey, fuck you, this is what we and the board members have decided is best for the shareholders, and this is what we are doing." Imagine for a moment that instead of a board of corporation members, EVERYONE got to throw their shit in the ring, dicks in hand. In a system of decentralized governance, the major players are not the only ones in town. I personally think that's awesome, given the current zeitgeist and how corporations have been considered historically. But, I am willing to be wrong here.
Justin Sun, in response to the really fun times, basically said that he takes the input of the community seriously, and wants to set up a town hall meeting with the top 50 witnesses on March 6th. This could be a good thing, because the biggest word in FUD that can be applied to the current state of Steemit is Uncertainty. If you're a member of the Steemit community and you like how Steemit is run, then I'll bet that is the biggest word for you right now.
I'm a Steemian myself now, newly minted this month. I honestly have enjoyed my experience so far. The community is supportive, and the system is really interesting. It has been a challenge to learn how to post, how to vote/upvote, and how to generally become an up and coming member. I love it, and I personally don't want to see it go away. I'm torn on Justin's response; on one hand, I know what the man is capable of (See the Binance Debacle I wrote about).
At the same time, If Justin is really trying to get the community together to find a compromise, then I applaud him. I would like to think that he isn't an idiot, and that when he invests in something, he's doing it to make money and expand influence and not the other way around. Furthermore, I would think the guy who wants to build "The Decentralized" internet would understand the folly of trying to centralize everything by consolidating the power. That's just a silly thing to do if you're trying to decentralize stuff. Then again... There is that whole BINANCE SR thing. Remember folks, Do Not TRUST, VERIFY.
A Look Into a Ginger Man's Crystal Balls
Okay, so I see a few possibilities:
1.) Screw it Guys, We are Replacing STEEM with TRX. Suck it. I think this would be the largest and most disruptive thing to do. This basically becomes a corporate takeover and consolidation. STEEM as a token is left out in the cold, drops in value immensely (I predict), and basically becomes worth as much as DogeCoin. That would suck, and no wonder the price in STEEM has dropped! People are seeing the news and thinking, "Holy shit, STEEMIT is gonna become TRONIT and my position in STEEM is gonna drop faster than a WWII Deutschmark. I better jump ship!" This is not only the most disruptive option but possibly the hardest and most expensive; imagine trying to migrate the ENTIRE Steemit blockchain onto Tron? Wow, that would.. suck. This might also be a similar state of affairs if say, STEEM is converted over to a TRC token. I think the disruption would be seriously felt in this case.
2.) Let's Improve interoperability and create a Bridge. Make this a Tale of Two Cryptos. I think this would be an interesting and safe compromise. Instead of trying to upend the entire system, make TRX a complementary system. It would basically be how there are affiliated companies that operate under a conglomerate. Tron Foundation in this case, has holdings in STEEM, and make decisions along with the community. The rest of the community can be a check on the power of TRON and vice versa. STEEM remains an asset, and we are (for the most part) happy. Keep Calm and Carry on.
3.) Throw Tron in There to Work Alongside STEEM. This is an interesting option, but one that has a fatal flaw. There's this little economic principle called Gresham's Law. Say that TRX and STEEM work side by side. It is possible that the price of Steem would become intimately connected to the price of TRX and vice versa. Depending on the Market's state of affairs, one currency could be "driven out" due to its value. Of course, this isn't a precise example; Gresham's law does see "best" results when the two currencies in question have a particular ratio between them. In order to curb this, one might consider making particular features of the Steemit ecosystem contingent upon TRX, or otherwise have an additional TRX layer on top of STEEM for some other purpose.
4.) Negotiations Go Nowhere. TRX and STEEM become like East and West Berlin. This would suck. Who knows how long things could last if no compromise is found. I think STEEM would see more volatility and a decrease in value over time in this scenario as well.
This is all really interesting, possibly the most interesting thing I have seen in the Crypto space. It brings up really practical philosophical questions about governance and centralization, and I think there will be some really groundbreaking stuff that happens from this situation. But what do I know? Time will tell. Personally, I want STEEM to stick around because I think it's awesome.
Hey JUSTIN! If by some miracle you ever read this, I really really like STEEM. Get together with the Witnesses! Make a good Compromise! Because DAMN IT, I just started on STEEMIT!! Also, don't get angry about the memes and stuff. I'm just taking the piss with you. Binance though... let's be friends and not talk about that.
Thank you SO SO MUCH for reading. I orignally made this post on Publish0x, and I hope that the Steemit Community finds value in my shenanigans.
Until next time, keep your eye on the markets, and let's hope TRON doesn't run outta STEEM.