Toolkit posts are designed to help new Steemians get acquainted with the ins and outs of Steemit. If you have requests on components or systems related to Steemit that you would like to see explained, please let us know in the comments below.
Steemit Wallet 101
For a new user, understanding the Steemit wallet can be a challenge! There are multiple categories indicating where two distinct cryptocurrencies are held in your personal account. Today, we will break down the basics of the wallet, describing what each category means, and help you get comfortable navigating the local lingo.
"Wait, what’s my wallet?" The wallet tab is like your very own Steemit bank account. Here, you can keep track of how much STEEM and SBD you’ve earned, transfer it to other Steemit users, deposit or withdraw.
| Description | |
|---|---|
 | STEEM - is the central currency on Steemit.com. It’s a cryptocurrency or “token” very similar to Bitcoin. You can earn STEEM by blogging, commenting and upvoting content on Steemit. This section of the wallet shows your “liquid” STEEM meaning you can withdraw these tokens at any time. You can also move STEEM to SP in a process called "Powering Up" (learn more about this below). |
 | STEEM Power - (or SP) is the same as STEEM. SP though, indicates how much influence you wield in the Steemit community. The more SP you have, the more valuable your vote becomes. Unlike the liquid STEEM in the first section, SP is locked in unless you click “Power Down” (learn more about this below). |
 | Steem Dollars - (or SBD) is a secondary currency on Steemit.com. Value-wise, SBD are designed (algorithmically) to equal approximately $1.00 USD. You can earn SBD by blogging and commenting on Steemit.com. Just like STEEM, this section of your wallet is liquid, meaning you can withdraw these tokens at any time or you can “convert” your SBD to STEEM (this is an exchange that takes a couple days to process.) |
Savings - provides an extra layer of security to your wallet. Here, you can store liquid STEEM and SBD. Once you deposit liquid cryptocurrency in savings, it takes 3.5 days to remove it. (STEEM and SBD in the Savings section does not contribute to your upvote power.)
Estimated Account Value - shows the total value of all your STEEM + SBD = in United States Dollars. This number fluctuates 24/7. Why? The value of STEEM changes every day as people trade it. If you’re curious what 1 STEEM token is worth right now, click here!
Power Up - If you have liquid STEEM tokens, you can move them into SP in a process called "Powering Up." This increases the strength of your vote and the amount of curation rewards that you can earn.
Power Down - you can turn SP into liquid STEEM in a process called "Powering Down." In an effort to keep the whole network secure and stable, the process of converting your SP to STEEM happens in 13 installments over the course of 13 weeks. Each week 1/13th of your SP total will become liquid. A important reminder - your voting strength reduces every week you Power Down. (Power downs can be stopped at any time.)
Transfer - this action is pretty neat. Here, you can move liquid STEEM and SBD to any other Steemit user or a third party cryptocurrency exchange / wallet. Simply click the little carrot drop-down and select “Transfer”. You’ll then be prompted to enter in the amount you would like to transfer along with the account you are moving the cryptocurrency to.
Check out the Steemit FAQ page for more!
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Thanks for reading! We hope you found this Steemit Wallet walkthrough useful. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out in the comment section. Check out our other toolkit posts for helpful tips and ideas :
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