@buildteam put together a project that just went live, @dlease. This is a leasing platform for digital assets. At this time, STEEM is the only asset listed but it did get me thinking about the possibilities.
Leasing Steem Power carries with it varying views. Some believe in the idea of earning passive income. Others, however, detest the idea of leasing SP to newer users especially at rates that are seen on here. To them, it amounts to usury.
I can understand both arguments and will leave that for another day. What I do want to focus upon is the opportunity this platform is establishing and the possibilities it is presenting.
Steem Power is the main vehicle for activity on the blockchain. Since it is associated with Resource Credits, every SP entitles one to a certain amount of activity. Networks carry a finite amount of capacity and Resource Credits are a means of determining the value of each transaction. Essentially, it provides a value to what one can expect to "pay" to use the network.
The debate thus far pertaining to leasing is surrounding individuals leasing out SP to smaller accounts to earn a return. At times, the newbies earn more than their agreement but not necessarily so. The challenge with this focus is that it misses the fact that Steem is changing. As we see growth, we are going to see a different sort of participant.
Steem will get into commerce at some point. @steemhunt is working hard at drawing the attention of technology product makers as a way to promote their ideas and products. For those companies to do so, SP is going to be required to transact. Engaging with the community via posts and comments requires SP.
This is where leasing can come in.
The odds are many of these companies are not going to be active, long-term participants on Steem like individuals are. To them, it is a marketing vehicle. Because of this, they want to achieve their end for that project and move on. The idea of them investing long-term in STEEM does not likely.
Leasing provides them the vehicle to operate on whatever time frame they desire. At the end of that period, they will conduct their evaluation as to the benefit of using Steem. If successful, it would make sense to continue or introduce new programs.
DLease offers this ability.
OF course, this thinking is still focusing upon STEEM. What about other tokens? We are starting to see the number of tokens tied to applications growing. People are starting to amass many different tokens. This could have value in a leasing market especially if different digital assets find their way onto DLease.
For example, let us say I have some CLEAN tokens that I got for cleaning up my neighborhood. If I am involved in Steem Monsters, perhaps I want to improve my strength for a fight. Thus, I offer out my CLEAN on lease, knowing I will get a particular return which I then can use to lease a particular card for my Steem Monster battles.
What if an application wanted to run a specific project? Perhaps they are sponsoring some event or doing a promotion for, say, the Super Bowl. The application could enhance its stake by leasing tokens from DLease for that specific project. As we see the upvote economy grow, this could be very valuable.
On their site, DLease put together a comparison of leasing out tokens compared to real estate. When you think about it, this is not an outrageous thought process. As I mentioned, STEEM essentially is tied to "digital real estate" in that it gives one a certain amount of usage on the network. That has value.
In addition, digital assets are going to be just as valuable in the future as physical ones. With the emergence of virtual reality, especially tied to gaming, we will see digital assets growing. The idea of turning these assets into a passive income center will appeal to many people.
https://dlease.bt-stage.com/faq/dlease-realestate
I like to look at newer projects through the prism of where I believe the world of crypto-economics is going. When I think about what Steem will look like in 5 years, where does something like DLease fit into that? How does the ability to enter with few assets yet acquire "power" and begin interacting play out?
We all know that the banking sector is at the core of our present economy. One of the drawbacks to the system we are in is that there are a lot of non-liquid assets just sitting around. Turning them into performing ones is a major boost to the overall economic activity. This is where the digital realm excels. Everything is liquid at its core. The only question is the liquidity of the market surrounding that asset.
As I wrote about last night, looking at technologies in terms of the first generation disruption only tells a part of the story. Go out two or three generations to see where the real power is. Leasing out SP is the first generation idea of DLease. However, the real power resides in the disruption that comes from the second and third layers.
Who knows, maybe we will someday be leasing virtual office space on DLease instead of going to a realtor for some physical space.
To read the full write up by @dlease:
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Image from article linked.