It has been a very busy day at work - so, has Justin Sun and his Posse bought Steemit Inc yet?
I had a quick look through Twitter and it didn't have an update, but there were a few people conflating Steem with Steemit Inc. I guess if the rumors are true, we are going to have to again let people know that Steem isn't Steemit Inc. Thoiugh, they are pretty influential.
Especially with the size of their stake.
...or whoever owns it now.
This actually brings up quite a massive question as for most of the life of the blockchain, the Steemit Inc stake (at least ~70M) has been largely unused, though some portion of it has been delegated to some applications to help them get off the ground. While there was an unwritten understanding that the stake would be used to influence the operations (that much) of the platform, if it has been sold to a third party, that "contract" is unlikely to remain valid. The question is,
What would Justin Sun do?
This sets up the conditions for what could be one of the largest changes Steem has ever seen as it would mean that a "non-Steemian group" would have the largest and most influential single stake on the platform, and all the privileges comes with it. Voting for witnesses included. Will this be a good thing for Steem, or will it turn authoritarian and challenge the decentralized nature of the platform? Just remember though, while Steemit Inc has a lot of Stake - The Steem community has more - something that every investor into Steem needs to recognize and understand in regards to their responsibility to the chain - well, I think some staekholders will understand that.
At least, it seems that the Steem pump last night is based on the hype of rumor, which is something that Sun is relatively good at creating around his projects. Perhaps having Steemit Inc will mean that one actually has use case and a strong community to support it, other than pure speculation.
While necessity is the mother of invention, uncertainty is the mother of possibility - and this does create uncertainty around the future of Steem, not necessarily its survival, but its direction. As a social experience, Steem behavior is influenced by all kinds of interactions and news like this can both cause fear and also invigorate the community. Last night in chat with a few people, there was far more invigoration than fear as most who are invested and interested prefer the volatility of the unknown than the stagnancy of the status quo - it is what makes them traders and developers toward a better (and more valuable) future.
With the access to other non-crypto communities that Sun has, the opportunity for onboarding many millions of users is possible, and with SMTs and communities around the next corner and a bullrun gearing up t potentially dwarf the 2017/18 run, the timing may be perfect for Steem to showcase its technology, scalability and ability to provide access for normal daily users as investors and contributors. Will Steem start to fulfill some of its real potential?
What do you think?
Are you ready for the moon - or waiting for the Sun?
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
Posted via Steemleo
