The long awaited Smart Media Tokens finally have a release date!
If you have been around steem for any length of time, you likely have heard about the elusive SMT.
It stands for Smart Media Token and it is a way for established communities, websites, games, etc to launch their own token via the steem blockchain.
The idea was for steem to become a fabric chain, much like ether, where many apps and coins could be launched on top of the original chain.
Thus greatly increasing the value of the underlying steem currency.
(Source: https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@littlescribe/smart-media-tokens-smt-explained)
We saw something similar happen with ether as it skyrocketed in value as more and more ICOs launched and Apps were built on top of the chain.
All was well and good except the Steemit.inc team was not quite ready to launch their vision as early as anticipated.
After originally thinking they may be ready for launch in early 2018, it was quickly realized that things would take much longer than originally expected.
Months went by without any word as to when they might launch SMTs.
However, today that all changed.
In a blog post put out by @steemitblog, it was revealed that SMTs are expected to have a testnet ready to go by January of 2019.
With the actual SMT ready to launch by March of 2019.
The actual dates are as follows:
January 15, 2019 - SMT development complete and live on the TestNet.
March 24, 2019 - SMT fully released and live on the Steem Blockchain.
(https://steemit.com/steem/@steemitblog/smts-release-dates)
On top of that, there has already been some press coming out announcing the news...
https://www.cryptoninjas.net/2018/08/15/steemit-announces-release-date-for-smart-media-tokens/
https://coincentral.com/steemit-announces-release-date-for-smart-media-tokens/
Some seem to be upset at how far out the dates are...
However, I think they are missing the bigger picture...
Having firm dates like this is very bullish for steem. We haven't had hard dates in a long time and judging by some of the comments from those with connections to the inner workings of steemit.inc, it sounds like they have learned their lessons about meeting deadlines.
Which means these dates are likely to hold up, even if they are not quite as early as some might have hoped.
The price of steem has moved up slightly against BTC (and USD) since this announcement was made and I would not be surprised to see it move up even more over the next day or two as this news starts to trickle out.
(Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/steem/)
Five months may seem like a long time, but the market will likely start to price in this good news well before it actually launches.
That means anyone that is hoping to buy steem low before they launch SMTs may have to do so well before the actual launch date.
Stay informed my friends.
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