As we near the end of the year, it appears there are a few setbacks on our path to $100.
To start, the incredible run we witnessed from Thanksgiving to the middle of last week paused. Since the highs, most tokens are off a good bit including STEEM. After peaking a bit over $4.00 it is roughly $2.50. Repeatedly, I tell long-term builders on here to ignore price action since it is not relevant. So why do I mentioned it? Simply because it appears people are in a better mood when the price is going up. The negativity that we see is less of an impact with a higher price.
Another recent hit is the conclusion that the Vice token is actually a fork and not a development of the SMT program. This means that they are essentially going to be a totally separate entity. Other than air dropping some tokens to STEEM holders, there does not seem to be any correlation between the two. Vice decided they could do it better themselves. Is this a smart move? Only time will tell. Regardless of the outcome, that will negate their need to pay for bandwidth in STEEM.
Finally, we witnessed a ton of behavior the last couple weeks that went past upsetting and entered the realm of appalling. The flag wars, to me, got disgusting. People jumped in on both sides which meant it got nasty. This certainly could be a major turn-off to newer people especially bigger fish. I mean, seriously, do you think a major media celebrity would jump onto this site if he/she saw what was taking place along with the name calling. The people are brands which they carefully protect. Would a new medium interest them when this is what is put forth? Certainly it is not the majority of the people on here yet it is reflective of the entire platform.
So why am I bullish?
The answer is simply because problems are a part of life. No entity is without its issues. Sure there are some things to be down on yet there is also a great deal to be positive about. 2018 will still see incredible growth on this site and blockchain. The entire cryptocurrency market is on the path to explosion. We are standing at the edge of something great. Do not doubt that for a second.
I consistently mention that the key in this arena is to watch the development. What is going on the blockchain is most important. Pricing actions and individual behaviors will vary. However, when there is consistent development taking place, that is a blockchain growing in value. This is occurring with STEEM.
Here is a bit of good news if you missed it. Appics, the first token created under the SMT program, opened up its ICO pre-sale. From what I read, it sold out in 26 minutes. That is over $1.5M worth of tokens in less than 30 minutes. For those unaware, Appics is an Instragram-type app that is going on the steem blockchain. A few people were rather bullish with their money.
Here is an post by 
https://steemit.com/dtube/@flauwy/gvdv4vgt
In 2018, once the Smart Media Token protocol is released and things get going with that project, I believe we will see these announcements on a regular basis. Instead of one more app, imagine a couple dozen. That only serves to increase the popularity of this blockchain.
My forecast of $100 STEEM by the end of 2018 stands. There is still a lot going on with the steem blockchain that will propel it much higher. Remember, at $100, the entire blockchain is worth $2.5B. While that might sound like a lot of money, that is roughly 1% of the present marketcap of Bitcoin and could very well be only .3% by the end of 2018.
That makes sense though since steem can average one a million transactions in a day, operating at .1% of capacity while Bitcoin is maxed out.
2018 will be a glorious ride for STEEM.
Hang in there.
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Pictures by Google Images.