Steem is a cryptocurrency that was launched in 2016 and is part of the blogging platform Steemit. The goal of the newly created means of payment is clearly defined: A new financing option for good content should be created. Because so far there is a certain unfairness in this area. Who uploads some great photos on Facebook, may receive many likes - but the money of the advertising partners remains with the social network. This should be different for Steemit. There, Steem tokens are distributed to both the creators of high-quality content and the people who submit reviews. As simple as the underlying idea is, the implementation involves some complicated aspects.
The contents are stored in the blockchain
The project was founded by Ned Scott and Dan Larimer. In particular, the latter is no stranger to the scene: It is the founder of BitShares and technology chief of EOS. Meanwhile, Larimer is no longer active for Steem. Responsible for the financing of the platform and the distribution of the cryptocurrency is the company Steemit Inc .. A special feature is the fact that the blockchain is used in two ways. First, to store the transactions with the Steem Token. On the other hand, also for the decentralized storage of content posted on the platform. This approach should help prevent state censorship.
The individual accounts are rated according to relevance
In this point, the Steemit project also differs from the Chinese YOYOW token , which also wants to build a social network with cryptocurrency . On Steemit itself pictures and texts can be uploaded. Videos, however, have to be set elsewhere and can then be inserted by link. For the users, the publishing of content should also be financially worthwhile: For every positive evaluation they receive units of the Steem Cryptocurrency. The higher the reputation of the evaluating user, the greater the reward. The formula is: 75 percent is given by the author and 25 percent by the evaluators.
Steem Coin explained in the video
The Steem Token and other cryptocurrencies
Strictly speaking, there are even three cryptocurrencies within the Steemit network:
The classic payment unit is called Steem . This can be used freely and is also traded on numerous stock exchanges.
A second unit is called STEEM Power . Roughly speaking, the more Steem Power has an account, the more influential his rating. Basically, Steem Power and Steem are also convertible - but sometimes only with strong limitations.
There are also the so-called Steem Dollar (SBD) . These are linked to the value of the dollar and bear interest through a proof-of-stake procedure.
Originally, Steem's inflation was planned to be one hundred percent a year. In the meantime, however, this has been significantly reduced. Currently, the value is 9.5 percent - and is decreasing annually by half a percentage point.
"Delegated-proof-of-stake" instead of mining
An important question with cryptocurrencies based on a blockchain is always how new blocks can be added and transactions thus confirmed. In Bitcoin, this is done by mining. Roughly speaking, users with a lot of computing power are preferred. Steemit therefore uses a slightly different approach: the "delegated proof of stake" procedure. In simple terms, simply very trustworthy users are selected who can then create new blocks. The process has two advantages: on the one hand, the blocks are produced extremely fast - with Steem this only takes three minutes. It is also one of the few cryptocurrencies without transaction fees.
The course of the Steem Token
For the first time, the Steem Token boosted investors' imagination in July 2016, raising the price to around four euros. Subsequently, however, interest flattened noticeably. For just under a year, the Steem token remained below the limit of one euro per unit. This changed only in the spring of 2017. Buoyed by the general interest in crypto currencies, the price rose in June initially to over two euros. After a period of cooling, then in January within a few days first four and then the six-euro mark were cracked. But when the hype about digital currencies dwindled a bit, the Steem Token also had to let go and is now trading at around five euros. The market capitalization of the 248 million coins is thus just over one billion euros.
Lets' steemit!
