So far all the buzz about Steem has been about social network side. But that's not all. Steem is something more.
Just think how successful Facebook bank would become if FB allowed every user to make transfers for free with anybody without any restrictions. Everybody would be using it, right?
Currently Steem has only one currency (steem) that is mostly meant for traders and speculators. But after 4th of July we have also Steem dollar, a currency pegged to US dollar.
That means Steem basically has a built-in bank.
Steem dollar has essentially the same features as Bitcoin. Anybody can transact with everybody.
But it's also far better than Bitcoin. With three second blocktimes, it's much faster – Bitcoin has ten minutes. Like any other transaction in the Steem blockchain, making a transfer with Steem dollars is free – no transaction cost. And of course it's price stable, which is necessary if we want that ordinary people will start to use cryptocurrencies.
I wouldn't be surprised if people are going to start to use Steem only because of Steem dollars. Merchants are going to like it more than bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies because they don't want to expose themselves to price fluctuations. I predict there will be apps that are just wallets without posting and voting features.
What we have here is a unique combination of uncensorable social media platform and free payment network. These two features will strengthen each other. Together they have much better chances achieving network effect.