@ned popped in to answer some questions on WhalePool about how and why STEEM is a blockchain. The hosts went over the basic reasons blockchains exist, and Ned went into the specifics about the STEEM implementation, like how the content is directly on the blockchain, and how the nodes cannot be just turned off.
Early on, Ned hinted at some scalability improvements that haven't been announced. Ned also mentioned how SteemTools has listed most of the ecosystem around the platform.
They went over the comparison of using a traditional blogging strategy versus just blogging on steemit.com, specifically, how to easily monetize it and hit the ground running. Plus there's the side effect of being a low barrier to entry into crypto.
So, then the host of the interview pointed out, "hey, why don't you just monetize with Bitcoin?" Which is a great question. The host of the interview was of the opinion that all alt-coins are scams. Ned went over the problems of funding with an existing currency and how micropayments are a real barrier to onboarding. Ned explained how there's a reward pool for content creators on STEEM similar to how there's a reward pool for miners on Bitcoin. And this reward pool must pay out to the content creators and curators.
Another reason not to use Bitcoin was because of the requirement for 3 second block times without transaction fees. In order for that to happen with Bitcoin, most of these operations would have to happen off-chain, then settled every 10 minutes or whatever, which isn't efficient.
Ned also went over some of the economics of Hardfork 16, which showcases the flexibility and agility of STEEM to effectively course-correct when some of the experimental aspects under the hood don't work out as expected.
One of the hosts asked about blockchain immutability. Ned pointed out that the notion of Bitcoin immutability might not be as iron-clad as everyone thinks it is, which may or may not be true, just something that got thrown out there at the time of the Bitfinex hack. Ned went on to describe the governance model used by STEEM.
Anyway, it's really worth listening to the whole interview.
It was great to hear the pitch from Ned with listeners who had none of the backstory. The questions were great and Ned's pitch is well-honed for the situation.