Just as I was going to bed....
You might have read a few minutes ago that the consensus witnesses have initiated and Steem has gone through a softfork. This shouldn't affect anyone... well... it will affect a few accounts.
With Steemit Inc and the initial mined stake from 2016 being sold to Justin Sun, the stake that was earmarked and promised for Steem development suddenly was up in the air. The Softwork has temporarily put some restrictions on several Steemit Inc accounts in in order to secure the Steem blockchain.
If you didn't know what witnesses are for, securing the Steem blockchain is their first and foremost task, and it is their job to do what they deem necessary in order to do that job.
I have only just heard this news, like most other people and therefore I have not yet made up my mind on whether this is a positive or negative. However, perhaps this need not be either and this state could be a neutral position, until we sort out what is going on.
Over the last week, there has been a great amount of uncertainty and mixed-messaging coming out of the Tron Team and I am guessing this is what has instigated this move. Uncertainty creates fears and people on Steem have worked very hard to be here after 4 years and therefore, it is natural that we will protect it.
The question comes up however about the reasoning, as while the ninja mine is a threat to decentralization, this move has essentially frozen the funds of several privately held accounts and as far as I know, this sets a new precedent on Steem. Is it a good precedent?
Well, it depends on how one looks at it I guess as while this move might seem extreme to some, it also shows that the witnesses are very much doing their job to protect the chain, at any cost. This could backfire and create a lot of negative publicity, but at the same time it shows that the decisions we make through witness voting has indeed led to the protection of the chain, a decentralized protection.
Remember that that this is a softfork and can therefore be removed, which means voting for other witnesses who do not support it could lead to a rollbackfork (I have o idea if that is what it should or would be called), that would return the previous status quo.
For me, I am here on Steem, come hell or high water, and therefore I am going to ride this wave just as I do all the other ones, with Steem coming first. I am not yet sure that this is a move that supports that end, but I do believe that the mixed-messages coming from Tron a problematic if the uncharitable view of their intentions is the reality.
Well, now I will sleep on it....
Steem: Never a dull moment.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]