So, Steemit Inc is starting a power down of 34 million Steem and people are panicking. Isn't this what people wanted to happen with that ninja mine rather than have it hang over the head of Steem like the sword of Damacles? Panic? Really? Why so? Sure, if all of that steem was dumped onto the market it would likely crash the price considerably but then, who can and who is buying it when it is at 5-10 cents, there would be a lot of new large accounts in the water and at those prices, they would be expecting that there is a future of them going up again.
Of course, it isn't great for the view of Steem because even in the comments section of @therealwolf's post, people are confusing the two. Steemit is not Steem. Steemit.com can die, Stinc can sell all of its stake and the price can crash but, the blockchain keeps on keeping on as long as there are witnesses to process transactions and transactions being made. In the long-term view, Stinc not controlling that stake is in Steem's best interest, the short-term might be different however.
While the stake is there, it is some what of an emergency account that could be used to stop all kinds of issues, especially with the witness voting, if like I questioned in my last post, Bittrex lost control of keys and 49 million Steem got powered up and allocated. Stinc do not vote for witnesses - at least not directly.
The fear and panic that people is not because (at least for most) their lives are in danger if Steem fails, it is pure economic consideration, they fear losing what they have here, they fear not being able to sell in time, they fear that what they have worked for will be for nothing. I have the same fears of course but, why would that stop me? The value here is not in the certainty of having Steemit Inc hold stake and promises, it is in the uncertainty whether a community can create itself around an economic model without an authority. Steemit Inc has to lose control eventually.
Rip the bandaid off fast in my book and feel a little pain while there are only a few thousand accounts here. It is better to get alll of this over and done with before there are millions right? Some will argue that the millions won't come due to the uncertainty but that would only be if the applications stop developing for them on Steem. Some might very well choose this and while I think that would be there mistake, they are entitled to do what they think is best for their business with the stake they control.
Having said that, Steemit Inc said about moving the stake to secure wallets and considering the amount and what is going on, is that such an outrageous plan? I know many others that have done the same and split their stake in various ways for security reasons. On top of this reason, there has of course been the idea floating around for a very long time that Steemit Inc could get forked out from the project entirely. It is possible, however unlikely.
There is also no word on what is going to happen with it and while some projects were de-delegated by @misterdelegation some hours ago, other projects held their delegations from that same account. There are many reasons why these things could be happening at the moment and perhaps that is the problem, Steemit Inc aren't communicating it to the people on Steem but @ned himself isn't so forthcoming with the details of the private company he heads up so, isn't that to be expected?
There was no need for them to send this memo at all:
They of course know full well that people watch their accounts for any signs of movement and as soon as something happens, a flood of posts hit the blockchain. This would make the memo strategic in nature wouldn't it? Are the people posting Chicken Little's claiming the sky is falling or, is there something truly sinister in play? Hard to say but, I am sure there will be no shortage of theories and of course, all of the FUD spreaders inciting community knee-jerk reactions.
The only real action people can take is to powerdown and sell their stake which is of course going to do the exact thing that people are scared of Steemit Inc doing as there is 200 million odd Steem powered up at the moment. Interesting game at play isn't it?
For me personally, while I understand everyone wanting full transparency from @ned and Stinc, I am more of the stance that it is their stake and they can do with it as they wish because, that is what the blockchain allows. If it is okay for me to have my freedom and privacy on the blockchain if I choose, that by default gets extended to all others as well. Yep, they have a massive stake and what they do does effect everyone else on the blockchain but, that is the system in its current form. I wonder what would be said if instead of doing this they cast 30 witness votes instead?
Pretty annoying not to know what they are doing precisely perhaps but, what if revealing what they were doing would be a strategic failure that would cost us all? If you knew that later their bowing to the community pressure and revealing their plans cost you potentially millions, would you wish that they would have stayed quiet instead?
Everyday there are so many battle raging on Steem in various forms but the problem is, no one seems to know what war is being fought. As I keep saying, there are so many things going on with the industry and legislation at the moment as well as other projects that it is impossible to know where it will end up and for most, impossible to understand what is really at stake, what wars are actually being fought. For the most part, the community on Steem acts as expected, slaves to an authority complaining about the way they govern. Steemit Inc aren't a government, they just have a lot of stake.
Make your own decisions what to do with yours.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]