Since having been offered to "Purchase a Witness Vote" from one of the Witnesses/Proxy/Whales out there, I have had a lot of my thoughts concentrated on this topic.
Even had a few conversations with fellow Steemians, some of whom are fellow Witnesses.
@gtg forwarded me a link to a post by @anyx in which the mathematics of it all is detailed out and proves that at the end of the day it doesn't end well for anyone of us Steemians, no matter if we are buyers or sellers!
Note: link is listed at the bottom of this post
After reading this post, three times over, trying to get all the number crunching straight, as it does go into a lot of detail, my conclusions are fairly clear.
a) The current code allows for this to be possible.
Hence, there is nothing stopping anyone from doing this. So if anyone wants to try it, do it, they can. It really is as simple as that.
b) The market, being us Steemians shall decide as individuals upon this. It always comes down to the person. Shall a potential customer buy/sell/proxy their vote for a sum of money?
I dare say that some shall. Some won't.
c) Apparently something similar has been attempted and even to a certain extent been put into place by a former Witness and in the long run it failed.
Yes it did get that Witness into the Top20 for a while, but again, that fame and glory was short lived, for whatever reasons. That persons failure to remain in the Top20 had little to nothing to do with their alleged "business" (financial) approach to getting votes.
So, I do ask myself, How effective is this and how safe is out voting system?
Personally, I again state how one of the key factors here is what lately has been referred to as "decaying votes", by which each persons vote is valid for a fixed term from the date that the vote is cast.
i.e. 12 months. after which that vote is reset.
This would definitely add a kink to the system as many of the ex users who are no longer with us shall not have any influence upon our governance on Steem.
Although it wouldn't "prevent" anyone from selling their vote it would mean that all those accounts we see sitting at level 25 and for whom we presume are owned by certain people shall most likely cast their new votes in a fashion that makes is very clear as to who owns what account! The Blockchain NEVER lies!
This would give the community added information upon which to make sound decisions upon.
Just as one example of how a potential source of information could add more power to the people.
Remember: "Information = POWER".
In a few of the conversations that I had the never ending topic of alleged "Vote trading" came up.
I will copy paste an answer I gave in one of these conversations and the reply to it, from one of the highest ranking witnesses we have. I believe this answer should sum it all up:
As far as vote trading goes, again, a vote is a vote and every person votes for their own reasons and with their own logic.
No matter how we look at it, nobody can "force" anyone to vote or not vote for someone if they don't want to, so what some call trading is in fact just a flow of information, in this case the information being how much MV a vote is worth and then if that person considers this to be an important factor at that moment in their campaign they have that information upon which to make THEIR OWN decision.
I've thought about that topic long and hard.
at the end of the day we all vote for different people out of different reasons.
i.e. a vote "trade" may not be in any way influenced by MV, it could be motivated by friendship, affiliations and a countless list of reasons.
So the topic called "vote trading" is in fact a dead topic to me, as it is totally subjective.
At the end of the day each person has their own reasons (reasoning) for their decisions.
ANSWER:
Agreed.
So, what can we do about "Vote selling" for good old "Greenbacks"?
Not much, except act in accordance with what we as individuals believe is right and best for everyone.
Some may decide to go the other route and choose to take on this type of offer and exclusively go by what they believe shall get them some added $$$$$$.
To all those I highly recommend that they read the detailed summary written by @anyx (link below).
Life may not be "black and white" and this may have come about as a "reaction" to the events that lead up to it. It may have been planned out all along, as it is pretty much using the same economical model used by the so called "bid bots".
Who knows, time may or may not tell!
Here are the relevant links that lead up to this post:
How Vote Incentivization Degrades Delegated Proof of Stake by @ anyx
Paying For A Witness Vote. The "Offer" and My Reply.
Paying For A Witness Vote. Looking At Things From Another Angle!
I hope you take the time to read these posts & really think over it all. After all our Witness Votes, each and every one MATTERS, no matter how much Steem we have in invested in Steem Power, or in private wallets somewhere, ALL of our Steem is at stake here.
Appreciate your time and as I have often said "Think about it"
Yours truly
