Earlier today, I pulled my last major power-down from Steem, converted to Hive at a loss of 2 to 1, and began my baby power-down of the 14 Steem over the next 13 weeks. The 14 Steem rewards for my last week of activity that I had after initiating my power-down. I know many of you still have many weeks left to go, some still unable to start as their accounts have been frozen by the tyrant who leveraged their way into control of that chain.
Some thought I was jumping the gun when I started my power-down at the first declaration of forcing the chain to some shitty Tron side bitch token. But for myself, I knew it was the right call. I had no desire to be on Tron under Justin Sun, his subsequent actions taken after I began powering down proof I was correct.
It wasn’t the first time I had powered down. I remember when I began questioning my ties to the blockchain after watching the projects descent from one of optimism to cynicism. Repeated promises coming and going as wars and bickering seemed to become the norm among many who seemed to be operating from a position of entitlement. The lure of the sheer genius of this chains philosophy seemed to erode in front of my eyes.
Some of that genius evident to me when I witnessed such things as:
I can’t tell you his name, but one of the first posts I came across was from a man somewhere in Africa. He was posting his gratitude for what the chain had offered him. He was able to buy his first pair of shoes, and eat at a restaurant. The reminder that such things often taken for granted in some parts of the world were a gift was humbling.
I came across a group called Family Protection. While some might (and have) disagreed with the views held in that community, I was humbled watching them through the power of this chain help struggling families pay bills, buy diapers and put food in their bellies.
I’ve witnessed many acts of kindness, kindness that unfortunately seems to get overlooked by many as the sense of entitlement manifests. I often have thought if many more could understand the magic of the dynamics here there would be more gratefulness.
I was skeptical of crypto when I came here. Still am for many reasons. Mostly pump and dump projects similar to the schemes run on the stock market, yet without a physical product to show for it. Being an intangible product, the limits to application become apparent when you begin reading white papers and see essentially projects with little value for the average person, and often ones racing to achieve the same little value. Steem, and its successor Hive, found a way to transmute that value from one that was intangible to one very tangible. A philosophy if you would, that allows benefit for average people, immediately.
The day I received my login email (a couple weeks after applying) Steem was valued at 3.08 each. Over the next half year, seeing for the project to have value I would need to muster some investment money (walk the talk) I bought in at over 2.00 each, and again over 1.00 each. Watching as it continued to plummet in value to a fraction of a dollar.
Of course, I listened to the discontent as the value plummeted. Thinking to myself, if just more would invest instead of view it as something to extract from, the value would rise again. That the monetary value of the project was a reflection of the actions we in the community took towards cultivating it.
I read the complaints of rape by those who had larger stake. Many of them coming off as little more than jealous bitching of those who had a better position. Curiosity pulling me to look at some of these large accounts. And while some were definitely using most if not all of their stake for their own profit, I also saw some charged who would toss out votes worth several coins for simple things like answering what your favorite breakfast is and such.
I wish jealousy weren’t a thing, that we could all focus on our own responsibility in our walk through life. Recently, I saw a post that had a beautiful truth posted at the end of it. It went like this.
We're not equal, haven't been born equal, and we don't ride the same donkey. (acesontop)
None of us arrive here equally. The only thing equal here is if we stake up, we have the same opportunity for stake inflation and potential rewards as the next person. The more you invest in this system, the more you can potentially reward and be rewarded. I already notice this, despite my investment here being miniscule compared to many others. Believing once again in this project, I’ve grown my airdropped 800 and change Hive to a little over 4k Hive. Selling off the little crypto I held elsewhere, as well as converting my Steem to Hive as it powered down. The results?
For vest inflation to offset chain inflation, my stake is currently growing around 1/3rd of a Hive per DAY. That’s around 10 Hive per month, which while it might not seem like much to some, is more than many accounts earn in a month.
From the speculatory side of things, here is another interesting observation.
At current valuation (.31 each) my account value in US fiat is 1256.00.
If we were to see a spike in valuation to equal the value the day I joined, the same holdings would be worth 12481.00
If we were to see a spike to the all time high, the same holdings would be worth 33189.00.
And, we haven’t even examined potential growth in authoring and consumption rewards.
I understand that there is a good segment here that can’t afford to invest. I’m borderline in that position myself. But many who believe they can’t actually could, if they cut back on eating out or other frivolous spending whose value quickly erodes to nothing. And if one understands the math I laid out above, it’s easy to see that the more investment you put in, the quicker this philosophy will reward you.
Circling back to the magic I mentioned earlier. The intangible reward. The one where you can help others in less fortunate circumstances. The amount you can help tied to your investment here.
On other platforms, you see talented artists, writers, photographers etc seeking donations. Or relying on ad revenue from those platforms as long as their content meets those guidelines they set forth. Donations that require you to reach for your debit/credit card. As nonameslefttouse often points out, here you can reward talent without ever touching one of your own cards/money. Your ability to reward and support more of what you would enjoy coming from an inflation off of your investment in YOURSELF.
Done proselytizing here. Will hammer the end home here with this.
WE are the community. WE determine the value, unlike most shit projects that are dependent entirely on pump and dump investors who could care less about the true value. Strengthen your cog in this community and you will strengthen every part of it you hold dear.