I noticed the SBD peg is slipping a bit which means it may be a good time to convert your SBD to STEEM.
You can do this from your wallet. Just click on the arrow next to your SBD balance and select Convert to Steem.
You'll then see this pop up window:
Put in the amount you want to convert and hit the Convert button. You'll then be asked to enter your Active key (you should only ever be logged into Steemit using your Posting key, to protect your funds).
In 3.5 days, you'll get an equivalent amount of STEEM for your SBD based on a $1 value of SBD and the price feed for STEEM. SBD or "Steem Blockchain Dollars" (what I previously called "Steem Backed Dollars") are essentially debt on STEEM via a smart contract. When you convert, you're running that contract. This removes the SBD from circulation and if the price of STEEM stays constant during your conversion, you'll essentially get an extra bit of STEEM for your SBD as if it was still worth $1.
You can see others doing conversion requests as well via @jesta's labs page:
Keep in mind, everything fluctuates. If the price of either SBD or STEEM changes while you're doing your conversion you may have been better off just using the market or waiting to act later for a better price. There are no guarantees. That said, I feel like converting when SBD is trading below $1 is a good actor thing to do to support the peg and hopefully benefit yourself financially. Also, if after the conversion the price of SBD is still down, you can just repeat the process, buy up SBD off the market with your STEEM and convert again to get more STEEM.
It's a bit complicated and, as I said, it won't always work out in your favor, but it seems to me whenever we restrict the supply of SBD (i.e. lower the outstanding debt on STEEM), then we're doing something useful for the long term.
If this sliding SBD trend continues, it might make sense to sell some other crypto to buy up cheap SBD and convert it for a quick profit. Again though, with changing prices all around, anything can happen.
I know there have been many posts already about SBD and SBD conversions, but with new people signing up all the time, we have to repeat things often. From the Steemit Blue Paper, SBD are:
Steem Blockchain Dollars (SBD) Many users who are introduced to cryptocurrency struggle to comprehend how “magic internet tokens” awarded by the platform can actually have real world value. In order to help bridge the gap between more traditional fiat money systems which mainstream users are used to, and the cryptocurrency tokens which they are awarded through the platform, a new currency called Steem Blockchain Dollars (SBD) was created.SBD tokens are designed to be pegged closely to one USD, so that users who receive them can know approximately how much they are worth in “real dollar” terms. SBD tokens also offer a relatively stable currency for users to hold if they are looking to preserve their account value relative to USD. A more detailed technical explanation can be found in the Steem technical whitepaper.
You can read more about SBD in the Steemit White Paper starting at page 9. In my last witness update, I mentioned adjusting the SBD Interest rate to 1%. If more of the top witnesses do this, there might be more incentive for people to buy and hold SBD which might help the peg a bit as well.
I hope you found this useful and informative.
