HF21 is round the corner. In fact, it is just about 4 more days according to this countdown timer from 
In terms of the upcoming changes, I think many Steemians know about the changes to the author/curator reward ratio as it has direct impact on the rewards we are getting. The current author/curator reward ratio is 75/25 and it is going to change to 50/50. In addition, the previous linear reward curve will be changed to a convergent linear rewards curve. I do not intend to explain the curve, and I am probably not able to explain it well anyway. So, it is better for you to read up more about the changes to the curve, and other changes, here.
While I was browsing around and reading up about the changes to the economics, I noticed that there are many who think that these changes are bad as it seems to favor whales with higher SP who will be able to reap in higher curation reward. The counter argument is that with higher curation rewards, there will be more manual curators and the better authors will be discovered. As a result, these good authors will be getting higher rewards than before. While this might seem like a weak argument, the inclusion of a separate downvote pool seem to serve as a good complement to this.
The separate downvote pool allows Steemians to make a number of downvotes without incurring voting mana cost. This will encourage users to downvote spammy posts and thereby reducing the bots usage and vote-buying/self-voting to milk rewards. When implemented together with the increase in curator rewards, it might be able to tip the balance and encourage sufficient manual curation and reduce bots usage. However, I think the effects will be really difficult to predict and in the end, it may not lead to any significant difference. I personally think the lack of manual curation is a result of a lack of engagement rather than a lack of incentive. Hence, increasing curation rewards will not really significantly increase manual curation.
My favorite change is the introduction of the Steem Proposal System (SPS). The SPS allows Steem users to publicly propose work they are willing to do in exchange for pay. Steem users can then vote on these proposals in almost the same way they vote for witnesses which uses stake-weighted votes. The difference is that voters can vote for as many proposals as they want. This change not only bring about more decentralization, it also adds more utility to holding Steem.
Since there is less than 7 days to the hardfork, I think this post will be getting rewards based on the new system. We shall see how things go after the hardfork. I still believe in the value of this platform and I am hoping things will change for the better. What are your thoughts on HF21?
The "Raise to 50" Initiative
Under 50 SP and finding it hard to do much on this platform? I might just be able to raise your SP to 50. Check this post to find out more!
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