We have a Steemit Market, but that is only good for small volume trades between Steem and SBD. Have you ever looked at the large transactions? They never use the Steemit Market. They can't use the market. They also can't trade against other currencies. They are forced to take the large sums of STEEM and SBD offsite to a real exchange. Those exchanges are taking fees that profits the exchange. Steemit doesn't benefit from these large trading volumes.
I propose that the Steemit Inc build and operate an exchange. The Steemit Market can remain just like it is to cover small volume trades between STEEM and SBD. The Steemit Exchange would work on a virtual currency system just like other exchanges use. One can transfer STEEM or SBD to the new exchange before trading takes place. That will fix the transaction speed issue. They will also need to include other currencies. This would fix the volume issue and add revenue. Lets also give multilingual options. Let's open this up to the rest of the world. German, Russian, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese just to list a few.
If Steemit Inc would make an Exchange division to run this exchange and charge a tiny fee just like any other exchange, then they can generate revenue. Exchanges are highly profitable by doing this. Trades between STEEM and SBD can remain free as there is no cost to transfer STEEM and SBD. STEEM will also be a primary trading pair which will boost STEEM as a popular world currency. By adding other currencies and charging trading fees, they create a source of new revenue coming into Steemit to fund Steemit projects and upgrades. This revenue could cover Steemit Inc costs and could overflow into the STEEM reward pool. This would benefit everyone and could kick Steemit into high gear.
https://steemit.com/life/@socky/do-you-understand-your-steemit-key
https://steemit.com/steemit/@socky/why-is-steem-power-important-beginners-read