There is going to be a day when there are a lot of people earning their "living" from the Steem blockchain. We are going to see a number of "jobs" popping up over the next few years which will provide people with the financial means they require.
Obviously, for that to happen, a lot needs to take place. We have to see a major advancement of not only this platform but the entire industry in general.
There was a time, however, when very few people made their living on the Internet. In the early days, it was a select few who were able to do that. Outside of those individuals, most used the web as a form of entertainment.
Today, we see millions of different businesses operating online. They range from the likes of Amazon down to the Etsy store. People do all kinds of different things to make some money. Some create content that resulted in a following which has great value. Other do affiliate marketing programs. Whatever the particular niche, many found ways to either make an income or, at least, supplement their existing one.
Blockchain is going to provide 1000x the number of opportunities as the Internet did. Switching the centralized world to peer-to-peer systems is going to offer people with revenue streams they never thought possible.
One of the ways we are seeing people start to make some money is through curation. Thus, it got me wondering if a "job" in the future might be full time curator.
At present, there might be a couple mega accounts that can earn a minimal living through this practice. To start, a large stake is required. We also see a token conversion to fiat that is mired in a mega-bear run. Thus, earning enough in fiat terms to make ends meet is unrealistic at the moment.
Of course, many of us do not believe this will always be the case. This bearish environment will end at some point sending quality projects moving up again.
When it does, are we going to see a minimal level that is attainable through curating?
For example, will it be possible to earn $30 a day simply through curation? That is a little over $10,000 a year if done each day.
Naturally, this is not a living in the developed countries. However, in many of the third world nations, this is a lot more than is presently earned. So, it is a starting point for certain sections of the world.
How about $50? $75? These numbers are beginning to get us into the lower end of the developed countries. The later puts one at $27,000, not high on the hog, but entry level money in many areas.
At $3 STEEM, it would take 25 STEEM (or Steem Equivalents) to get the $75. Is that possible?
In STEEM, it is not likely. It will take ton of SP to reach that, something that is showing itself to be passing. The days of accumulating a few hundred thousand STEEM are likely gone. It will be harder to acquire especially when the price does rebound.
This leaves us with STEEM equivalents. What are they you ask? They are all the other things that can be converted to STEEM i.e. Tribe tokens and eventually SMTs. Is it possible to earn 25 STEEM a day by curating other tokens?
We see the likelihood increase although that might be tough. The one reason this could be possible is the fact that there are going to be thousands of different options to choose from. This means that one who acquires a decent sized stake in a community early on could end up with some fantastic curation rewards. Whale status in that community is certainly required.
The community also needs to be a successful one. To have a decent conversion rate to STEEM, there needs to be value there. Hence, curating something that is worth .0002 STEEM is not likely going to cut it. Naturally, the more successful a community is, the harder it is to accumulate the token.
Nevertheless, I do see time when people will be curating as a form of a "job". The reason why I write this in quotes is I am conveying the idea of doing something for money yet it is not a job in the traditional sense. Yet, I do believe it is getting the point across.
The likely path is that someone is going to be curating 5-10 different communities each day. This requires a great deal of time but when compared to the 8-10 hours people normally work, it is not outlandish.
With this many groups, it is easy to see a path where one can earn a 1-3 STEEM a day from each one. If they are successful groups, and one has a decent stake in each one, this is possible.
Thus, for those who are looking to operate at the lowest of levels, financially, it likely will be possible to curate one's ways into, say, a cashier's salary.
A lot of this does depend upon the price of STEEM in fiat. If we see STEEM near the $10 mark again, that changes things completely. Now that 25 STEEM is $250 per day. This puts one in an entirely different income bracket.
What levels STEEM ultimately reaches is anyone's guess. For those who believe $20 and $30 is possible, then we are looking at an ecosystem that could support a lot of full-time curators. If not, then we are looking at a lot of part-timers who use this as a supplemental source.
Of course, we are only referring to curating. There are dozens of other ways to earn within the Steem ecosystem. Thus, people are not limited to just one option.
What I can say about curation is that, at the moment, it is a great way to enhances one's ROI. Each time an upvote is placed, it earns a bit of whatever token is used in that community. In this instance, we can ignore the conversion to fiat since we can simply focus upon the number of units.
For example, if I have 1,000 of token X that I curate on a regular basis, and I am rewarded with another 50 from my curation over a 4 month period of time, I improved my stake by 5%. On an annual basis, this is a 15% return. Thus, if I put some STEEM into acquiring the 1,000 tokens, my ROI just improved 15% (all other things being equal).
I guess you could term this "actively managed" money. It is not passive income since activity was required. Nevertheless, the idea of improving one's return simply by pressing a button and liking stuff that one things interesting or of quality is something anyone can do. It is also a different approach to investing.
Many variables will have to work themselves out for this to be a full time "job" in most areas of the world. However, if many of them do align, there will be people making a great deal of money simply as curators.
When the entire Internet is tokenized, think of the possibilities that will be available to people. Essentially, every website could be a potential money maker for each of us. Every upvote will have some value out there.
And, in my mind, this is the entire essence of the "Upvote Economy". Today, there are billions of upvotes given out daily on the Internet, almost all of them having a value of exactly zero. On Steem, as long as one has some stake, every upvote has some value. Imagine the money that would be out there if all the present upvotes across the entire Internet each had some monetary value to the users.
In time, they all will. And I believe there will be some who are making a terrific living as full time curators.
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