Steem.Supply Update: Rewards Algorithm Rewrite, Major Cleanup, Version Bump

Following my recent efforts to understand how the rewards allocation works out in Steemit, I think I came to a conclusion, so I updated the rewards calculation algorithm in steem.supply.

On a side note, steem.supply has been on an unusually high load during the last few days (which led me to the cleanup I will talk about later) and also some of the content nodes that I'm relying upon are experiencing very high loads. So please try again later if the page doesn't work for you right now. My content node is still under making.

How The Rewards Are (Actually) Calculated In Steemit:

First of all, thanks to @geekorner and @penguinpablo who helped me during my other post.

Now, let's see how this actually works.

The main confusion point is the "$" displayed by default near the rewards by Steemit (and busy, and eSteem). This "$" is not a USD. It has nothing to do with it. It's also not a SBD. So, what is it? It's what I'l call from now on a "Steem Token Unit", or STU. This is different from SBD and STEEM as currencies, and it's actually the expression of the underlying value storage in the STEEM blockchain, which goes under the name vests.

So, the potential reward you see near your posts is actually expressed in STU.

Example: you see near your post $100. In order to understand how much you will get, we will talk form now on in STU whenever we refer to the numbers the Steemit UI is showing. So you actually see near your post 100 STU.

Out of this, you give away 25% from your STU to curators.

You remain with 75 STU.

This amount is split 50 / 50, with the following algorithm:

  1. the first half is given in SBD, in the exact amount shown by division. In our case, half of 75 is 37.5. So you get half of your rewards as 37.5 SBD
  2. the second half is given in Steem Power, at the current feed price (the internal Steemit price for STEEM) in USD. So you get $37.5 worth of Steem Power. If the current feed price of STEEM is, let's say $6, you get $37.5 / $6 = 6.25 Steem Power.

Please note the difference: you get SBD directly as half of your rewards, but you get your Steem Power at the current market price of STEEM, not in absolute numbers.

You get half as SBD, and half as usd equivalent value expressed in SP, at the current price of SP in USD.

The end result for something that displays 100 STU near your post:

  • 37.5 SBD
  • 6.25 Steem Power

Let's see how much this means in fiat at the following prices: STEEM = $6, SBD = $8.

  • 37.5 SBD x 8 = $300
  • 6.25 Steem Power x 6 = $37.5.

So $100 displayed rewards, are actually equal = $337.5 real USD.

I tested this algorithm on a few posts, implemented it in steem.supply so hopefully from now on your rewards will be correctly calculated. Please be aware that the former algorithms often resulted in higher payouts than real. From now on, this shouldn't happen. If you notice something unusual, please let me know.

Major Cleanup

I bumped the beta version to 0.3.0 and I got rid of any other unnecessary baggage. JSECoin code has been removed, it was a nice experiment for a while, but steem.supply is now too big to run experiments on it. What started as a one page Steemit learning exercise turned into a tool that gets used by more than 1,000 people every day, and it's even used as evidence in acrimonious disputes over the reward pool. So from now on will keep it as clean and as accurate as possible.

As always, looking forward to your criticism, suggestions and feedback.


I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.


Dragos Roua


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If you're new to Steemit, you may find these articles relevant (that's also part of my witness activity to support new members of the platform):

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