Is Steem being held back on purpose?
This is just for a little bit of thought and perhaps some discussion and should be taken with a grain of salt.
When it comes to crypto projects most of them are vaporware so as important as everyone sees price of token, how connected is it to the actual project itself? Sentiment drives markets on a larger scale but with so many coins that are continually getting pumped and dumped, is it sentiment driven at all? For the most part, does anyone buying and selling actually care about the projects themselves?
What I am wondering is that considering Steem already has a working community and a growing number of usable apps in comparison to at least most other projects, it has slid a long way down the rankings to currently sit in 47th position. This doesn't seem to be based on anything solid but, I am not a trader myself. What I am wondering though is if the slide from 7.30 to 30 cents is part of the plan in some way.
Considering the sheer volume of what can only really be called shitcoins out there with nothing more than speculative value, at some point those holding the bags are going to have to let them go and get into projects that have some kind of future. What better way to buy into Steem than let it fall?
Steem typically is slow to track market movements so it means that it could be possible that during the next bull run surge, traders are looking to follow the pumps through their coins and then sell across into real projects with use case. At some point, the music of caseless coins is going to stop and some people are going to find themselves without a chair.
There is also the reasoning that Steem suffers poor distribution for a token designed to distribute an inflation pool, which means that with low price there is a chance that more people are able to invest into a project and get stake but, they also don't want to take a large hit if they bought into other projects much higher.
What I do think though is that trying to predict crypto markets based on price movement as if it is a tradition exchange with long history and real world application is not going to be accurate at this point. Comparing it to the dot com era bubble is more accurate but even then, this will be different again. There was a mass of vaporwear and 'good idea' investments in the late 90s that amounted to nothing but made some people very wealthy and a few of the projects pulled through to actually become something substantial.
It will likely be the same here except that pretty much anyone can throw a coin into the mix, hype it up and get some money in and, there are plenty of people who have bought into bitcoin or eth an have an excess to invest that they didn't need to do much for. When the banks and investment firms come into the market, are they going to behave in the same way as an original BTC or ETH investor or, are they going to be more traditional in their approach and back projects that have a good chance of uptake considering they still have some duty to their customers?
How many projects are out there which already have use case and track record behind them and if the estimates are correct, can absorb 3 - 5 trillion in funds with projects that have a chance of one day becoming somewhat stable? There aren't that many are there? If you consider that EOS was worth something like 15 billion before it went live, we can't really say that it was based on anything concrete.
In my highly uneducated opinion, price of a token has close to zero correlation with value of a project but at some point, there is going to be a coming together of price and true value. Steem is going to have a rather unique position in some ways also as there is going to be so many factors that effect investment as there are so many possibilities it can hold. During the dot com times there were companies getting invested into like Amazon and Priceline but on Steem, both of those startups can exist simultaneously on the blockchain. Does that make investing into Steem easier or harder?
In my view, it should make it an easier choice as rather than being a narrowly focused investment vehicle, investing into Steem would spread potential into all projects and risk across all projects. It would only take a few successful companies to utilize Steem to make the Steem project a success but, the one chain can literally hold thousands of investment targets simultaneously.
Again, this post is more for my own thoughts and visualization and perhaps to encourage some feedback from the community but I do think that there are far fewer intereesting projects out their than the amount of money that is potentially going to flood in can support. Does this mean that a proven use case and an engaged community will be an attractor of investment as at least there is something of substance? Time will tell but, when it comes to investing, vaporware is generally not what people aim to buy into on purpose.
While so many use price as an indicator of success, I don't think that the market is mature enough at this point to put that much faith on it. Perhaps one day, when there are robust chains with long histories and real-world applications, products, services and communities running along them but, we aren't there yet.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
Interesting point of view. Upvoted and resteemed.
I started using Steem almost 3 years ago and to be honest, it's only now that I am getting this feeling that people are actually trying to build something valuable instead of just making as much money as possible ASAP. It's kinda depressing.
On the other hand, should I be surprised? We are only mirroring real world behavior here, aren't we? Like, in general, do you consider most people giving up what they could have now to gain more in the future or just be fucking sustainable? I definitely don't.
We are really balancing on the edge here. And I am not talking about Steem only. I am talking about the climate change that is "too expensive to care about". I am talking about waging wars for ridiculous reasons. Destroying rain forests and forests in Russia. And this could go on and on and on endlessly...
Let's plunder this planet, but behave on Steem well, nicely and rationally. I barely think that anything like this is possible unless we get our shit together in general.
Sorry for being in this mood, but the level of absurdness is raising every day. Europe is going nuts. It's starting to be rather difficult to make something reasonable out of what is happening these days.
But why am I even writing this? I guess that we have to be pretty damn sure we are not building any more cloud castles with Steem as we are with other things. We should really ensure that what we are building makes sense, at least theoretically, and brings some value, although it does not always has to mean that it is immediately well-received by the users.
That is actually not so easy, to make something valuable and well-received. Because what is valuable? Is something valuable because someone else will pay you for it? It seems like it these days. But considering the consumerism and where our behavior has got us, it is much more probable that you will build something really valuable that no-one will give a damn about.
I am keeping my fingers crossed not only for Steem, but for the whole mankind actually. I have somehow managed to leave this issue be, but only as much as you can pretend that you don't care while being torn inside.
Posted using Steeve
Humans are notoriously short sighted and rarely think about the end of their lives, let alone the lives that will out live their own. It is depressing. But, we also have a chance to at least personally grow ourselves, find new ways and attempt to change the paths. Unsuccessful we may be but, that is okay.
While everyone is looking to change the numbers to support better behaviour, it will never be enough, it requires personal paradigm shifts that will only ever come through increased understanding of ourselves and the role we play in the nature of all things. Perhaps this experiment wakes a few people up to taking responsibility for their part rather than only encouraging avoidance through entertainment, which is the current monetization model of the world.
The economy is a mess because for the most part, so few people understand even the basics that they become victims of it. I think that those who come onto Steem suffer the programming of centralized control and act out what they know but, they also have more of a chance here to see the mechanics of the process and perhaps learn enough to start to take back control.
I know that for me who I consider not a complete idiot, I have learned a great deal about our world through the steem microcosm and see the processes and behaviours consistent on and off platform.
We can't change the world for the better if we do not understand what influences it, what influences us.
Yeah, sometimes it is so ridiculous it's almost funny. But it really slows down development as well, which is not what people understand. I have seen it many times that people just do things without even stopping for a second and thinking whether it even makes sense. In one of my previous jobs I was taking care of software development procedures and processes. And sometimes you could tell that implementing something will not work for one reason for another. But no, it must have been tried.
I mean, obviously you cannot be really precise with every possible outcome, you will be wrong from time to time with your predictions, but I really wonder whether we really have to behave like stupid monkeys most of the time. There are things that are obviously not going to work. It could be enough to stop, think for a second and evaluate what you are doing.
But I am probably asking too much since statistically speaking most people are simply not able to do that. It is enough to see who was elected the president in the Czech Republic. A pro-Russia drunkard. And the prime minister? A thief and an oligarch that started making his money and connections during communism already, being an StB agent.
¯(°_o)/¯
Posted using Steeve
People ar generally narrow in their view and experience so incapable of understanding the complexities let alone the compounding of factors across systems. I mentioned three groups, investor, contributor and consumer but maybe dev is a fourth. Very few have a clear vision of the other positions even when they try, so act on what they now which could actually be indirectly detrimental to themselves as they influence the positions of others.
A maximizer on steem might not recognize that the value of their token is inextricably tied to usage but, they aren't using their value to improve uptake. They satisfy their immediate goals at the cost of their future needs, the ones they will actually have to live with. This is the same for those who use all of their resources today thinking that is living in the moment. They forget that one moment is tied to the next and that is not the only moment they will experience.
On the other hand, as you have mentioned somewhere, what is happening now is really interesting and I also learned quite a lot by being on Steem and developing Steeve.
For example, people came, and not just once, asking why they should be using Steeve? What is in it for them? Like that we should be paying them for using our system somehow. I have to say, being a complete newbie in this area, I was shocked. You get good content, you get recommendations, what else do you want?
It seems that people got used to being treated as a subject to advertisement and consumerism themselves. They are able to ask you how much you are going to pay them if they sell themselves to your particular system.
I have always been wondering whether these freemium systems actually work. Facebook, Google and many others. I am going to use your system and let others pay for the system to be maintained and developed. And now look, Steemit Inc. is running out of money.
And on Steem it is pretty much the same. Do something and I am going to vote on your post, resteem it, bla bla bla. And others can delegate to me to support the efforts. And see, it is again someone else than the consumer paying for the system to run. And you, as the consumer, get rewarded for your good behavior.
And then we are asking where the value is and it's less and less apparent as more and more complicated freemium systems are established. And nobody is buying Steem because nobody needs to pay for anything.
I am really wondering where this is going to take us and I really have to congratulate Steem Monsters for making something that actually makes sense and is clear and simple. You pay for something you get.
Posted using Steeve
I wonder if it's precisely because they see things getting less attainable that they suddenly start to realise this could be a good thing. When there is plenty, we don't necessarily see it as finite. Then when others come along and see what was possible, they start to think how it could be sustained better.
The exact same goes for our ecosystem. As it disappears people start to realise we need to keep it and build it back up, but while its easy come easy go, nobody thinks that way. They just revel in the luxury of it while it's there.
Posted using Partiko Android
Yeah, nobody cares about the land being dry as long as there is drinking water in the pipes :-)
Posted using Steeve
Oh @void! I know an old chap that exactly does that!! I don't know his name. But I've seen that he basically looks like a handsome Eye flirting with a green bug perched on it. Yeah! there are a few out there who thinks all that sound kinda creepy.
This is all so far out fro my understanding. It feels more like plot to a movie that is something like Oceans 11. I do think it is possible and, most likely probable, that all of this volatility is the result of the greed of a few. Same as the stock market but I think with stocks there is more regulations and safeguards in place.
Or I could be wrong. One of the smartest people I know is 100% against all cryptos for just such a reason. (along with others reasons)
but who really knows? I don't. I'm just along for the ride here. If all this end up in a fiery bus crash of crypto hell-- well then at least it was a fun ride.
Yep but, many of the smartest people out there were against, home PCs, mobile phones and digital cameras too.
Yep =)
My partner is of a similar opinion (about the lack of regulations and safeguards making crypto "dangerous" I guess), though he's not 100% against it having seen the potential utility of steem ("potential" because he's watched me cash out all of once last year, I'm the one that runs screaming at the sight of the stock app or charts on a screen).
I'm with you, the ride is entertaining XD
Hi
I enjoyed this post. I am new to crypto but have already invested in over 30 coins, which has provided me a very intense amount of real world education about crypto. There’s nothing like having skin in the game to make you attentive and an avid learner. Based on these experiences I believe what you are saying is true. I learned through the school of hard knocks that crypto currencies come and go, seemingly with lifespans of fruit flies which are measured in days. You are on the money that coins with no use case were my biggest mistakes, coins with ghost developers or “hit-n-run” developers who make coins, mine coins, sell all their coins and then vanish...
There are so many abandoned coins that there are websights dedicated to listing them. There are also coins which specialize in uniting communities of abandoned coins in their community. There are high ROI Masternode coins which start with high ROI and high coin values until 2-3 hundred masternodes exist then the developers and early investors sell all their coins and abandon the projects. Then the coin price plummets and the coin community is left “holding the bag” of worthless coins. There are far to many coins where the developers are unknown or operate under aliases. The coin github sites are empty.
These are the reasons why I am here investing in Steem. I will make a bold statement. The majority of the cryptocurrency market is like being poor, living in a 3rd world country, it sucks. Being in the Steem coin community is like being middle class in the first world like USA. We have problems like cell phone batteries that give 12 hours of life instead of 13-14 as advertised. But we are not afraid of being eaten by wolves or tigers as we go about our everyday activities. Being here after being a newbie in the crypto jungle I feel like Steem is amazing. Steem has not just one use case, but several. Steem has not one developer but several hundred! Steem has a huge active community, Steem has DAPPs, Steem has so many positive attributes missing from your every day coins that it is like a beacon of light in the darkness. I know that sounds dramatic, but the differences between Steem and your average Alt-coin are dramatic. I have lived life in the crypto jungle and this “the Steem Community” is an oasis, Steem is a highly advanced cryptocurrency civilization.
@shortsegments
This is why I see it as a growing city. There are suburbs that we might not want to live in but overall, we are doing pretty well.
heh, I like it :)
Held back? I'm not sure. What would be the reason for that?
This evening I'm thinking @freedom is going to convert all his SBD and burn the lot. This would reduce any hold a little :)
Because it lowers price and provides opportunity? What is the point of holding most of the other coins out there? There is at least some point to holding Steem.
That would be interesting to track the results of.
I've got 0.05 SBD. If we convert together perhaps we could explode the market! ;D
Consider that during the dotcom era there were projects that were written off as analysts nevwr thought they would be able to compete with the leaders in those industries like retail and travel. However, they were able to created platforms with efficiencies that made it possible to compete with those leaders. I think that is what Steem can become in the social space up against the centralized networks currently out there!
Posted using Partiko iOS
steem and blockchain in general has a lot of opportunity to replicate with efficiency but, it also has the potential to change the way we organise our resources too. This is a huge possible value.
I don't really think Steem is being held back purposefully. All markets are plummeting at the moment, so it stands to reason that Steem would too. However, I find the possible comparison to the dot com bubble interesting. It came up somewhere before and at the time I thought that as much as people criticise that the bubble was a flash in the pan that is now over, the internet is still going and has become a part of the daily lives of most of the world. Yes, the hype part is over, but that could well have been the thing that caught enough people's attention to get everyone slowly on board. Could crypto head the same way? The huge price leaps and the people who got rich on them may be coming to an end, but it got everyone's attention. If it can now move forward as a useable day to day currency, we could be using it for years to come.
Posted using Partiko Android
I see Steem somewhat like the internet that supported the dot com bubble as it is able to hold a great deal if independent projects that can be invested into but, has the benefit of being an investment vehicle itself. No one could really buy into the internet globally, it was just the infrastructure that housed projects.
That's a good analogy. I do think Steem has taken the next step forward for the crypto world, bringing it into a realm of every day use possibilities.
This could very well be the case.
This is kind of true. But there are many projects with far worse distribution. It's just most other projects are no widely used and even when they are used a lot nobody really bother to check the wallet sizes.
Yes, Bitcoin has worse distribution, XRP is incredibly bad.
I was a bit surprised before the crash that STEEM blockchain wasn't more popular than it was, but i guess it was confusing being in beta. The future is still bright. Right now the dominant players (google, facebook) etc. are still on top, but people are getting sick of centralized fakery. Once the crypto market clarifies and improves STEEM should be right there.
Beta is not much of an issue I think considering most projects don't even have an alpha.
I don't know if it's "part of the plan", but I was wondering why Steem wasn't getting pumped and subsequently dumped like many of the other coins out there (or at least not quite as aggressively). I was wondering if maybe it was specifically related to the active community that is on here.
I would imagine that a "stagnant" and "underutilized" coin would be easier to pump-up and extract value from, when compared to Steem -- which is generally (currently at least) a social-media site for crypto-enthusiasts. Word would get out a bit quicker due to the community, and Steem users would likely be able to capture some of the profits that the "pump and dumpers" would have hoped to attain.
I don't have a shred of evidence to support any of it -- just a thought.
It could be. Perhaps people prefer vaporware :)
This is true but it will also eventually be useless and not attract investors, while Steem will likely still have use case and earn without needing to sell.. This is why I wonder why traders aren't putting some into it. Wouldn't it be some kind of risk management considering one can still earn 20% a year on it.