@mariusfebruary,

Marius, as usual, thanks for the support and cogent feedback.

In my post I mentioned:

Notwithstanding a few notable exceptions, Orcas and Whales (85% of SP) aren't even pretending to care about quality or curation. Instead, they're leasing their SP to bidbots or DApp projects in which they have an interest so as to generate Passive Income in the form of interest ... instead of earning Curation Awards from their SP holdings as intended.

You were one of the "few notable exceptions." I didn't mention you and the others by name as I didn't want to involuntarily drag any of you into the line of fire. BTW, I left answering your comment to last because I wanted you to have an opportunity to read the other comments/replies.

The EOS/STEEM swap offer makes sense for EOS on many levels, and it seems to be such low-hanging fruit. However, for it to work, you would still need liquid steem as you would have to spend or burn STEEM it in the migration process. So the 13 weeks wait is unavoidable for an unfriendly takeover.

My idea would be for EOS to assess a Steemit user's wallet value (SP, SBD & STEEM) and swap it for the equivalent value of EOS (as of the exchange rate on June 1). EOS would then end up with a pile of SP, SBD & STEEM (the SP portion would, as you point out, occur over 13 weeks) that would be largely worthless given the now all-but-non-existent STEEM/Steemit user base. EOS would write off such cost of the swap (the incurred loss) as a "marketing expense."

As an aside, this would not be an "unfriendly takeover." Every Steemian would choose of their own volition to do the swap (effectively converting the value of their STEEM into an equivalent value of EOS) or not. The only ones likely to deem such an action as "unfriendly" are STEEM Whales. But, as I've argued for a year and a half, this is a mess of their own making. They knew their self-dealing was corrupt but engaged in it anyway ... and actions have consequences.

• In any event, I highly doubt my proposal would happen. Realistically, this kind of thing would need to be planned months in advance.

But then I wonder: Did @dan start EOS only to find out that Steem is the essential application after all?

I'm assuming you meant "... Steemit is the essential application after all." And the answer is, yes. One need only Google the market caps of Facebook and Twitter to glimpse the astonishing wealth-generating potential related to social media. If there's one thing you can bet your life on, it's that human beings will always be yappers.

A Facebook/YouTube alternative where you get paid to create, comment and curate. That's a pretty easy-to-communicate and easy-to-understand value proposition, isn't it? @dan seems to have had an epiphany: The computer code is only as valuable as the genetic code says it is.

STEEM Dev's seem convinced that "if they build it, they will come." Well, look around ... is that happening? There are hundreds of STEEM DApps in existence ... and yet, the user base continues to fall along with STEEM's relative rankings amongst cryptos. What they have yet to grasp is that if the customer doesn't want it, it's worthless.

Nothing. Nada. Not a penny.

Both STEEM and EOS have visions of being "operating systems" to a host of third-party applications. But what either would be wise to do is Concentrate Their Force on creating ONE CORE PRODUCT ... first. There could not be a more obvious candidate than either Steemit/MEOS. But what's key is realizing that the ONLY purpose of the computer network is the creation of a human one. A lot of the Dev's are writing code for code's sake. They're dreaming of sugar plums: Striking it rich in DApp-based SMT ICO's.

Here's the problem: There isn't enough capital in the system.

The same SP that was intended to curate content on Steemit is being used as "an alternative source of venture capital" for endless DApp development.

The result: Jack of All Trades, Master of None.

This is the Achilles Heel of Decentralization ... an inability to Concentrate Force.

No other organization in history ... not countries, armies, nor companies ... have EVER succeeded using this strategy. Indeed, the most famous slaughter in military history, the Battle of Cannae, occurred because the Roman's had two generals who alternated command every other day. One was an "attack general," the other a "defensive general." Either strategy would have been fine, but not both. Hannibal noticed what was going on and exploited the confusion. To quote myself:

"Worse than a bad plan is no plan. Worse than no plan, is two."

STEEM/Steemit has hundreds.

This is why Responsible Whales are so imperative ... and their absence, so cataclysmic. "Leadership" in this anarchistic fantasyland has become synonymous with "tyranny." That's delusional on its face.

STEEM/Steemit has gotten away with such stupidity for three years because it had no real competition. THAT is about to change. Tomorrow. Either the Whales stop f'ing around or the blockchain is going to face its own Cannae.

Is it already too late? I don't know.

[I can't help myself ... one of the most consequential "sets of reforms" in history were launched by your namesake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_reforms ] :-)

Would that not be the most positive message for Steem ever - that with all their billions and devs and in the light of all the other unsolved problems on planet Earth they don't find anything better to do than run after Steem?

Let's say you're a small software company with Program X. It's announced that Microsoft will be launching a competitive product. Yes, that's vindication of your vision ... but is that going to be good for your stock price?

And if your argument is correct and EOS can just buy STEEM then @zuck (not sure he actually owns this account 😉 ) would just buy EOS using the exact same mechanism.

Zuck is going to have his own coin (GlobalCoin) soon enough.

In any event, as I explained somewhere in these comments, while a large warchest is a huge advantage, it is also subject to the Law of Diminishing Returns. At some point, product, strategy and execution become determinant. EOS has a large warchest and it is surrounded by Goldman Sacks alumni and Venture Capitalists ... if it needs more capital, it's there for the asking.

FB is centralized and, compared to Steem, so is EOS. I think Dan Larimer is a brilliant mind and whatever will be released will further the crypo space in general.

Decentralize what makes sense to decentralize. Centralize what doesn't. I suspect "hybrid arrangements" are going to prove the most effective most often. Decentralization has some EXTREME disadvantages and it should not be the reflexive preference.

Quill