For long maintained that STEEM is not going to be the main token on the Steem blockchain. Instead, it will move into the background and be an "operations" token.
By this I mean, it will fund the ongoing operations of the blockchain. Steem is required to transaction on the blockchain, thus has a hand in everything that takes place. Steem Power related to Resource Credits which allow people to post, comment, and vote. At the same time, Witnesses receive STEEM for running the network. After Hard Fork 21, if it goes through, we are going to see the Proposal System also paid out in this currency.
Personally, I hold that the Hard Fork is not going to achieve the end people think. From what I can derive, it looks like the Witnesses are going to enjoy a greater piece of the pie. Some might get offended at this but it is really a major power move on their part.
To start, the Proposal System is being paid from the inflation pool by reducing the percentage paid to authors and curators. The Witnesses did not take a shave at all. Why was that? I have no seen their justification although I am going to surmise that it has to do with the cost of equipment and running a node. Of course, we must remember MIRA is about to go live which, if what we are told is correct, will reduce costs significantly.
At the same time, most of the Witnesses are programmers and bot owners. This means that it is likely they are going to be funded through the SPS system since they are the ones developing on the blockchain. I honestly do not have a problem with this since we are at that phase. Steem requires more development and these are the people who will do it.
We are promised that bid bots are going to be less appealing and will start to have their payouts reduced. I find this to be the opposite of what is going to happen. On one hand, the owners of these bots are not likely to give up the income. They can alter the coding to compensate for what is taking place. Plus, they are receiving a greater piece of the curation pie. Sure, people say the downvotes will offset it but I do not find that practical. What might be more likely is the appearance of downvote bots.
It is important to note how important the Witnesses are to the survival of the blockchain. If they are not verifying blocks, there is no blockchain. It is really that simple. These people are the Ground Zero for the ecosystem. Nothing takes place without them. So it is up to each person to decide how much this is worth in monetary awards.
We will have to see how all this pans out if the update does go through.
Either way, this is only accelerating what I thought would take place: the move of STEEM to the back burner with other tokens taking the spotlight. We might have seen this except for the woeful delay in SMTs. Now, with the development of SCOT, it is starting to head in that direction.
PALnet is in the early stages only being around a couple weeks. However, we are already seeing another system on top of Steem developing. The community there is equally as committed and many more are excited about a fresh start. Some of the problems many perceived with Steem are being addressed on that platform.
Thus, there is a chance that more people are going to be attracted to that than Steem. We already saw one member, 
The biggest difference with this decision is the voting power. Each platform has its own voting power although PALnet is based upon the Steem model. Thus, is one is not concerned about the Steem VP because he or she delegated the SP out, then the only thing that matters is the PALnet VP. It is here where people will have to build their accounts to make their VP grow over time.
Is PALnet going to become what Steemit wanted to create a few years ago?
Before answering that question, I think it crucial to bear in mind that I am not saying under any circumstances is STEEM going to zero or that it is worthless. Remember that this is all part of the same ecosystem and STEEM is the core token. Unless someone has a small amount of SP, either owned or delegated, that person is going to do very little on here. All PALnet transactions do require a minimal amount of SP to operate.
The success of any of these platforms comes down to community. Essentially, the larger accounts are perceived as doing very little for the rest of the community. Too many are accusing them of only operating in their own self interest. This Hard Fork, in my opinion, gives the same appearance. Whether it is true or not matters none, perception is reality.
PALnet is showing the true potential of this ecosystem. If something is not satisfactory, there are enough smart people on here to do something about it. In this instance, a group got together to develop a "better Steem" in their minds. We will also have to see how this turns out. Nevertheless, the opportunity is there for newer people and smaller accounts to have a bigger impact.
I think one of the flawed mindsets on here is that Steem is still a blogging platform. It is not. The ecosystem grew so that it expanded far past that. A case could be made that it is even bigger than a social media system. STEEM has many use cases yet it seems that many are trying to put it back into the smaller box of blogging. This is evident by the focus upon quality content and trying to clean up the "Trending Page".
Does anyone think the trending page is of concern to those using APPICS, Steemhunt, Actifit, or 3Speak? I really do not believe it does. Rather, the Trending Page is a concern to Steemit and a few of those who were here when Steemit.com was one of the few applications on here.
I am happy to see the PALnet experiment taking place. It is one of the major steps that is going to place STEEM as the backend token for operations which is where it is most needed.
To give full disclosure, I will say that, in the last 24 hours, I have been buying some PAL tokens and staking them. If we are serious about growing this network, the tokens need to be in the hands of those committed to helping it grow. I feel that this is something that I can do to assist.
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