You can also access your Steem wallet via Steemit.com. Click the person icon at the top right and select “Wallet” from the user menu.
Here you’ll see your STEEM, Steem Power and Steem Dollars balances. The system also gives you the estimated value of your account in US Dollars.
Each balance number has a small down arrow next to it. Click it to do something with your money (see below).
Keep in mind that every wallet on the system is public information. You can view anyone’s wallet but only interact with your own.
STEEM
With your STEEM, you can transfer, Power Up, Deposit or Buy/Sell.
Use Transfer to send STEEM to another user. You can enter a memo (which is permanently recorded on the blockchain) to remind yourself later what the transaction was for. Many transactions are recorded under “History” at the bottom of the page. Transfers are immediate and fee-free.
Use Power Up to vest your STEEM as Steem Power, which is like buying preferred stock in the Steem network. This takes effect immediately. As noted above, withdrawing your Steem Power is a slow process. SP is a long-term investment.
Use Deposit to convert your bitcoin into STEEM using BlockTrades.
Use Buy or Sell to trade STEEM on Steem’s internal marketplace.
The best use of STEEM — this is my personal opinion — is to power up and, therefore, maximize your influence and long-term gains.
Steem Power
Click the down arrow next to your Steem Power balance and you’ll find two options: Power Down and Deposit.
Use Power Down to begin the withdrawal of your Steem Power balance in 104 equal weekly payments of STEEM. You can stop this process at any time. If you power down, you will receive the first disbursement in one week.
Use Deposit the same as above, to convert bitcoin directly into Steem Power.
The best use of Steem Power — this is my personal opinion — is to hold it indefinitely in order to maximize your influence and long-term gains. If you need some cash, you can always power down for one or more weeks and then stop the process.
Steem Dollars
Click the down arrow next to your Steem Power balance and you’ll find three options: Transfer, Buy or Sell and Convert to STEEM.
Use Transfer to send Steem Dollars to another user, just like with the STEEM transfer menu mentioned above.
Use Buy or Sell to trade Steem Dollars on Steem’s internal marketplace.
Use Convert to STEEM to trade your Steem Dollars in for STEEM. This is a good method for converting your content and curation rewards to Steem Power. The conversion takes one week to happen in order to prevent certain kinds of attacks.
You can also cash Steem Dollars out to Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies easily at BlockTrades.us.
Steem Dollars pay 10% APR interest so there is some benefit to holding them, and you’re unlikely to lose much because the Steem system works to keep the value of SMD close to USD$1. Check the current value at SteemDollar.com.
How to Cash Out of Steem
If you wish to cash out some or all of your Steem earnings, one good place to do it is BlockTrades.us, where you can easily trade STEEM for Bitcoin and Steem Dollars for Bitcoin or Ether.
Once you’ve cashed out to Bitcoin, you can use an exchange such as Coinbase or an independent trader near you on LocalBitcoins.com (active in more than 13,000 cities and 245 countries) to convert your Bitcoin into fiat currency (often in minutes and direct to your bank account), if you’re unable to spend your Bitcoin directly to get the products and services you need.
There is currently no established procedure for cashing out directly from Steem Dollars to fiat (government) currency.
