None of what I am going to write is considered financial advice or telling anyone what they should do with their money.
STEEM is the blockchain of opportunity. The question is are you taking advantage of the opportunities? This is a serious question that requires some probing because STEEM is at a turning point.
Many complain how the STEEM system is broken and unfair. They post about how the Whales (and Orcas) have all the power. People often mention the investors and how they only care about themselves and their money.
Bear in mind that bringing up topics for points of discussion or offering up solutions is not complaining. These are productive acts intended to move the system forward through ideas and conversation.
Somehow they feel that the system is not enriching them so it needs fixing. While there are some things wrong with the STEEM blockchain, the fact is the system is working how it is designed. For the most part, people are given opportunities that they would not otherwise have.
Again, are you taking advantage of those opportunities?
Before getting to the main piece of this article, I want to present a situation.
A number of months back SBD was trading over $3. This means that payouts were significantly increased for an extended period of time. In fact, it was higher a number of months before that. This was an opportunity to power up one's account at a faster pace than normal.
Did you take advantage of it? If you did, congratulations.
That was the time to increase the amount of activity to enhance one's standing. By adding a few more posts a week, or more comments a day, this increased the chance of getting a payout that was inflated compared to the norm.
During that time there were some posting on my articles about how unfair things are and that the bigger accounts should vote for them.. They felt after a month or so on here, that they should be rolling in it.
There were also those who were posting comments that were the opposite of that. They told how they were plugging along doing what was suggested. They believed that as time went by their accounts would grow. Many of them were able to get into different programs or contests which enhanced their standing. Since payouts were inflated, those who were being active benefited.
I had one in my 1KSP program that was able to get to 1K Steem Power in a few months. This is something that now would take a year or longer with the payouts. He was one who took advantage of the situation when it was presented.
I regularly look at the stats 
Here are a couple charts from yesterday.
https://steemit.com/statistics/@arcange/steemit-statistics-20180810-en
The first thing to point out is on the second chart. It is the blue line that shows the daily active authors. This trend appears to be following the price of STEEM. As the price dropped, so did the activity. Once again, this is an opportunity. Keep in mind that the amount of STEEM available each day is constant. In fact, according to 
Another point that stands out is the amount of inactive accounts. This keeps jumping quickly. At the same time, the amount of Planktons drop off the charts. Many are turning away and going Inactive.
Which brings me to the other point. I often write about how the STEEM system is not broken, it is actually working. Part of that stems from the fact that was written in the white paper: purchasing STEEM is as much a part of this ecosystem as any other. Powering up by purchasing STEEM on the open market is as helpful as writing an article or posting a comment.
And guess what? STEEM is providing an enormous opportunity to power up.
STEEM is on sale now (along with all cryptocurrencies). Many complained that the Whales (and Orcas) were able to buy in when STEEM was cheap. We are seeing that happen again.
As I write these words, STEEM is at .95. That means any Plankton can make Minnow with only $475. There are only 8,500 Minnows in the entire ecosystem. Do you think out of those 1.08M accounts that are Inactive and Plankton, that 1,500 could afford $475?
So why aren't people doing this?
One reason is people might not have the money. I can identify with this. There is nothing I would like more than to add another 20K to my account. Unfortunately for me, I don't have that type of money laying around. Sorry about my luck. However, my lack of money is not STEEM's problem. The opportunity is there if I would be able to take advantage of it.
Ironically, people who cannot do something because of a lack of money rarely complain about it. They understand the opportunity was there and that they could not take advantage of it. I am fully aware of this myself.
Another reason is they are afraid the price will go down further. I can identify with this also. My purchases were between $.80-$2.00 with most being around $1.30. Hence, I am at a lower level than where I bought. I do not look at this as a loss because, on this blockchain, there are many other ways that SP was leveraged since I purchased it. Nevertheless, fear remains a barrier for many people.
Once again, our fear is not the system's problem.
Some might not be buying because they believe STEEM will go lower and are waiting for, in their view, a better entry point. If this is the case, I hope their forecast works out for them...it could be a shrewd move.
The reason I mentioned the investors earlier is because there is something that have that the almost 1M accounts that are Inactive do not have: commitment. That is the major difference between those who bought STEEM and those who just showed up here. Yes, there are a certain percentage of the 50K daily active users who put no money down and are fully committed to STEEM. I applaud those people.
However, when people put money into something, suddenly their commitment level increases. Even if $100 is not a ton of money to one, the commitment level increases by powering up by that amount. Do you think that 50K out of those 1.08M could afford $100 worth of STEEM? I do not think it unrealistic. Consider what that would do the to activity on the blockchain if that many people were suddenly committed.
Of course, we know those people have no reason to do that. They do not look at this blockchain the same way the 50K who are on here each day do. Hence, they are not taking advantage of the opportunities that are presented here.
Some might disagree but those who are committed tend not to spend their time complaining about everything. Instead, they realize this is something that is going to take time, that a foundation is being laid. Their focus is on doing their part to make things grow while also pushing their accounts forward. Sometimes the payouts come in large chunks, other times in small ones. The thing with STEEM is, for those who are consistent, the payouts always do come.
Sadly, for those who were complaining a few months back, I surmise many of them are in the Inactive pile now. It is disheartening to see so many pass up an opportunity.
Nevertheless, for the ones who are committed to take advantage of the opportunity presented on this blockchain, it could be a marvelous future. It is quickly becoming apparent to my why this truly is the blockchain of opportunity.
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