STEEM Equals Wealth: SMTs-Income

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In my time on Steem, there is a paradigm shift that is really showing how different things will be. It is really starting to kick off now and I believe will be in full force by the end of the year.

When I started a year and a half ago, everyone was after STEEM (Or SBD). This was the only token that mattered. Everyone was focused upon the reward pool and how many upvotes they received. STEEM had a monetary value since it was traded on some exchanges.

This was in line with the blogging/content creation idea. This was the origin off the Steem ecosystem with Steemit.com being the first application.

People were engaging in the "follow me, I'll follow you" routine. We had people trading upvotes since the focus was exclusively on STEEM.

Now bear in mind, this has not gone away. At present, we are still a STEEM based ecosystem. That is starting to change however. Over the next couple months, we will see the emergence of a number of tokens that are paired and traded with, not only STEEM, but the major tokens (and perhaps fiat).

As this facet of the ecosystem grows, STEEM will end up shifting to the back burner. In my view, STEEM will be the coin that people use to build wealth. With roughly 300M in circulation, even with the inflation rate, we are not going to see a lot of STEEM floating around. Personally, I feel this is going to make it very valuable.

Since SP is tied to Resource Credits, we are going to see innovate ways to earn a return on that asset. People are going to need it to operate on here. That is why I feel that anyone now earning SP is going to be in an incredible position in a couple years. The supply of STEEM compared to the numbers that are expected simply do not match up.

The flip side to all this is the fact that people still are going to be given incentive to perform certain activities. This is still Crypto-Economics after all.

This is where we see the SMTs entering the picture. I use this term to refer to any token created on here (or tied to this blockchain) that is not STEEM. These are going to be the ones people acquire in the form of an income.

Thus far, it is this concept that makes STEEM one of the most attractive blockchains out there. We see a lot of development that is built upon the base idea of content/reward. This is what Steem is known for and it spend a number of years improving the system. Applications are starting to follow suit and implement some of that in their business models.

What this will do is to enlarge the opportunity people have to earn tokens. As the number of applications expand, we are going to see more tokens being created. While the amount of STEEM people will be earning is going to decrease (on an individual basis), the amount they are earning overall should increase.

Thus far, we have a handful of projects that are laying the groundwork for others to follow. The likelihood of someone new becoming a STEEM Whale without a boatload of money is slim. That same person, however, has that opportunity with a number of applications. Dlike is an example of an application where even delegating 100 SP can generate an enormous amount of tokens.

Marketing, which is really just social media engagement, is presenting an opportunity with these applications. Most of them are offering bounty programs for writing articles, making videos, and sharing things on social media. Early adopters can find some astounding payouts when the projects just kick off.

This is what I mean when I use the phrase "Age of Abundance". Miss out on the big payouts from the early days of Steem? Okay there is @steemhunt. Miss that one too? Try @actifit? Feel that boat sailed? Dlike. Asleep at the wheel there? Partiko?

And if you miss that, do not worry, there will be hundreds more over the next couple years. We are not going to see projects stop developing in this blockchain. The ecosystem is going to keep growing and offering opportunities for users.

Remember, the goals of the developers and the users are aligned. Both enjoy shared success that comes from a larger user base. Thus, each has incentive to contribute all they can.

Over time, I see a period where people are going to be earning dozens of tokens on a regular basis. These tokens will be income sources for people. Many of this will be in projects that one only has a passing interest in yet does some activity to earn them. These will end up being swapped out for tokens the individual values more including for wealth creation.

Ultimately, it will be the projects (applications) that are front and center. They are what will garner the attention and increase the user base. The applications will get their own following, many who will be unaware of what Steem is and the token related to it.

And this is how I see STEEM shifting to being a wealth creator while other tokens provide the income to people.

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