Smart Media Tokens (SMTs) in a nutshell:
Is a set of standardised tools that allow publishers to launch ICO on the back of Steemit. The ICO will be solely funded by STEEM (other crypto currencies to be processed manually off-chain) and optionally have market making mechanism for issued SMT to STEEM convertibility.
Why it matters?
SMTs represent the next step in Steemit ecosystem evolution, graduating from the centralised to hub-and-spoke model. The current centralised model presumes a single point of entry – Steemit website (there are some alternatives mentioned in the whitepaper, but they are all relatively small), where all the value is generated and redistributed in platform’s functional currency - STEEM. Currently it means that STEEM is a unit of account and a medium of exchange, but very poor (due to built-in inflation) store of value.
SMTs standard would enable wider communities beyond crypto currency world to take advantage of key vote-reward mechanics, sucking new users into the ecosystem and making STEEM the reserve currency or a store of value (notwithstanding the inflation).
- With the SMTs popularisation and the resulting demand coming from the new users would likely cause upward revaluation of STEEM price.
- With the advent of Hub-and-Spoke model we are likely to see exponentially more competition at the Hub (Steemit) in the future, as new authors with large existing Audiences will be crowding out smaller players.
- More fragmented content (that is being originated at the Spokes) and the fact that it will be originated outside the Platform (unlike the closed Platform of today) will likely to spur the development of meta-search and recommendation engine or at least the syndication services, with clear monetisation path in the form of advertising
Speculation: Steemit-SMTs as a blueprint for possible EOS development?
Given the interlocking management teams of Steemit and EOS, the fact that both platforms are developed on Graphene blockchain and EOS stated mission of “Massively reducing the difficulty of building decentralised applications” could it be possible the SMTs are the pilot project on how EOS development will proceed?
After all the stated EOS goals of self-describing interfaces, databases and generalised role- based permissions sound fancy but if catered to wide Audience means they are too general and if for narrow – too impractical.
On the other hand enabling EOS developers to produce standardised solutions for specific needs similar to Wordpress/ Shopify plugins, might be exactly what we are seeing in the form of Steemit to SMTs use case transition?