When I was young one thing that was never talked about was money. It was spoken about in the family as often there was a lack, but publicly it was radio silence. Speaking about money was seen as crass and taboo and speaking of not having enough was possibly even worse than bragging about having a lot.
Perhaps it is because those with a lot were culturally inspirational to many who may assume they earned it, while those with not enough were failures who didn't know or do enough.
How times have changed, especially at Steemit where wallets and transaction histories are on display for those with a sticky beak to take a peek. This may of course be largely influenced by the habits of the crypto community but, I think it is also a sign of the times where it is now common practice to flash what one has.
Over the last ten months here I have learned a lot and also heard a lot of FUD about many things including, the price of Steem. To the moon! no The Sun! were the calls and at times, it actually was doing pretty well. At the moment it is hovering around 1.00 dollar US or 0.00011699 BTC. It was about 0.001 BTC wasn't it at one point not so far back?
Anyway, with all of the cries for this or that price I am sure that many fantasise about What ifs like how many consider what they would do if they won the lottery. What would I do with a million, 10 million, 100 million?
Those that seem to know what is going on at Steemit think that despite the 99 problems the Steemit platform is be facing, the Oracles and SMTs that are coming are going to raise interest in the steemchain and apply much greater pressure to the currencies. So, moon to boom to sun?
Who knows but, I am sure that there are many already thinking about it and in my opinion, one should. This is the infancy of Steemit and the cryptocurrency world which means anything held now has much greater future potential, especially if it has real world application and a diversified user base. Ummm, Steem.
So, the chances look promising that some of the expectations will be met and perhaps for many, well and truly surpassed. In reality, there is much more chance of becoming a millionaire here than winning any of the numerous lotteries but, this is only if Steem fires up the rockets which is largely dependent on the community that interacts with the chain.
Tonight, I was talking to my wife about some future possibilities and dreaming about what we could potentially do if Steem hit a few arbitrary marks. It is easy to look at the whales at these points and understand that many of them already are or with a price rise, will be very, very well off indeed. What people often forget though is how much difference their current wallet could make on their own future.
For my wife and I who have been struggling for a little while for a couple of reasons, this is an opportunity we cannot afford to pass up. Yes, it could all come crashing down but, what if it doesn't? It is time and sweat and a severe lack of sleep for me.
Currently, I have about 10,000 SP powered up which means that if Steem hits 10 dollars, it has a value of 100,000. For some this may not be a lot, for many others, a huge amount. To us, it pays off the mortgage on our little apartment. Not that we would use it in this way but perhaps withdrawing 10 percent would buy us some fresh air. If this happened around the end of 2018, it would mean that in two years, I would have been able to earn three average salaries in Finland. By blogging.
But according to some, 10 dollars is a conservative estimate and they are looking at perhaps 50 dollars US. That puts my current wallet at 500,000 dollars value. Not bad right? That changes everything for my family, not just paying off the mortgage but likely never having to worry much about financial again since we are relatively simple folk. But, would I cut and run at this point? Unlikely but again, maybe 10 percent would come out.
If it hit 100 dollars in 5 years? My current wallet is worth a million. That is pretty incredible really. I know I put a lot of time and work into my content but is it worth a million dollars? I don't think so. Yet, at 100 dollar value, it would be.
I think looking at these dream points is valuable for me as it gives me a visual of where this could lead if I work now for it. Of course, I do not plan on stopping writing during these points and as I grow, so does my voting power which means, so does my ability to help other people's wallets too.
Getting the voting power slider takes about 500 Steem Power and although this takes some time for many, if one keeps the earnings in, it doesn't take too long. What does this wallet look like at 10, 50, 100 dollars? Well 5000, 25,000 and 50,000 respectively. That is pretty incredible don't you think?
Yes, it is very easy to look at those big whales and think how much they are going to make if this happens but think about your own wallets instead and imagine it 10x, 50x, 100x larger and honestly ask, 'is the effort I put in so far really worth that?'
What could you do with it, how many people could you help along the way so everyone who you think deserves it has a significantly brighter future?
But, we are not there yet and we may never be there, these are just dreams, maybe positive FUD. But I can't help at times but to allow myself some indulgent fantasy of the future to creep into my thinking, especially when there is a lot of nonsense in the platform.
Being so early into Steemit, we have a chance to not only become significantly better off financially but help others do the same. Perhaps this is part of the problem here. So many miners who have spent their time competing for blocks they forget that at Steemit, giving and spreading the wealth is what will push the price up by placing placing demand pressure on the chain.
If we look at how we use, interact and create at Steemit and its associated interfaces, we could drive this Steemchain into a position that makes the rest look infantile at best. There are so many potential applications of the Steem blockchain, so many people who could benefit from it, what is holding it back is largely us as a community and our limited vision and high penchant for instant gratification.
Now, you might not have interest in money at all and want to give your wallet to charity, does one thousand or a hundred thousand go further to help? Perhaps you want to invest in other technologies, send your kids to a better school, help out struggling families or just get yourself out of debt. It doesn't really matter what you choose, the potential is there to make what we do now, dozens if not hundreds of times more valuable in the future.
Steemit seems to be a place that for the greatest overall value to be created, looking out for the community is the best way to lookout for the individual. But again like I said above, perhaps this is more positive FUD.
Sometimes though, it is nice to think What if.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
