As a newbie on Steemit, after finally signing up my Steemit account, I clicked on the wallet button knowing wallet holds money. On the wallet button l saw Steem, Steem Power of which I found +27.658 beneath it and finally Steem Dollars. This variety of currencies got me confused since I could not differentiate which of the currencies I will be earning with. I know of Steem since I saw it on coinmarketcap, I know it's a cryptocurrency just like bitcoin and ethereum but I found it difficult differentiating Steem Power from Steem Dollar.
Thanks to the internet, after some digging I was able to watch Steemit 101 tutorial by @andrarchy on youtube which gave me a better insight on Steem, Steem Power and Steem Dollar. But to save other newbies the stress I encountered I think I should differentiate Steem, Steem Dollar and Steem Power in my Basic Steemit Fundamental Tutorial Series.
Steem
Steem is a cryptocurrency token just like Bitcoin, Ethereum and every other cryptos that is based on the blockchain minted daily just like every other cryptcurrency. Steem is the currency at which every other currency on Steemit derive it value. It is a volatile token that flunctuates which can be speculated upon like every other crypto. Steem can be used to inject money into the Steemit ecosystem i.e. Btc- Steem-Steem Dollar/Steem power.
Steem Dollar
It is denoted by SBD( Steem Blockchain Dollar) Steem dollar is a liquid currency spent basically within the Steemit ecosystem. One Steem blockchained dollar is usually at everypointin time pegged to $1 just for stability. For example, consider the price of steem is at $1.32 and you have 3SBD, that simply means you can afford to buy 2.27 worth of Steem.
Steem Dollar can be converted to Steem ( which in turn can be used to exchange other cryptocurrecies)
Steem Power
Steem power is more like a share on the Steemit ecosystem . It determines your level of influence in the community. You sometimes wonder why you get more earning when some certain people upvotes your blog? Yes i think so. You get more earnings because those people has more Steempower, they have more influence on the distribution of reward since they are investors. We are all investors on Steemit but our shares(steempower) varies. Steem power holders are also paid interest on the amount vested. With an interest of 15% yearly depending on the amount of Steempower you have.
Power-up: The term power up simply means you are getting more Steem Power(more shares) either by investing your money or by converting every of your earning to Steem Power.
Power-down: This simply means you are withdrawing your shares. Power down takes a period of 13 weeks where you get your Steem on a weekly basis which begins after a week at which you power down.
Check out this video by @andrarchy to have a better understanding.
How Your Earnings Are Shared
We all know Steemit is a platform where you vote,blog and earn. Therefore 25% of a post payout is shared between the curators(those that upvoted the post) while the remaining 75% is awarded to the author of the post shared equally(50%) as Steem Blockchain Dollars and Steem Power. The author can also get his/her earning in Steem power alone or decide not to earn anything for the post at all.
I believe this post should provide you a better insight on Steem, Steem Dollar and Steem Power.
You can check out my last tutorial post here:
BASIC STEEMIT FUNDAMENTAL TUTORIAL PART 1; THE USE OF MARKDOWN WRITING STYLE.
