With so much going on, it is easy to get lost in all that is taking place. For this reason, there is a lot of activity that flies under the radar. We all get caught in our own section of the Steem world, only to miss a lot of what is announced.
I am just as guilty of this as anyone which is why I try to bring as much news to those on here as I can. Many are not research nerds such as myself so hopefully I fill a bit of a void.
https://freedomex.io/
FreedomEx is a project that is easy to overlook. To start, it is an exchange, which to many, is about as interesting as watching paint dry. Big deal, there are exchanges all over the place and STEEM is ending up on more by the day. Besides, there will come a time when the fiat to STEEM conversion is less of an impact since many will be buying STEEM and other Steem-based tokens using other cryptocurrency.
That is true. However, when done properly, exchanges can provide a great deal more than just token swaps.
So what makes FreedomEx different?
To start, they are a Steem-centric exchange. This means that all pairings are listed in STEEM. This is one of the default currencies. In fact, it was going to be the sole currency until their most recent announcement.
Another fascinating aspect to this is the kind of tokens (protocols) it supports. They are compatible with ERC20, TRN 10/20 and the SCT which was just released. What is SCT? That stands for Steem Contract Token and is used on the Steem project developed by 
In other words, all the other tokens created on that platform will be compatible with FreedomEx. We are seeing multiple projects that are being developed to enhance the usability of STEEM and other tokens that are tied to this blockchain.
Which brings me to the latest announcement.
The FreedomEx team has visions to reach outside this ecosystem. In fact, they already struck a partnership agreement which is providing another pairing on the exchange. Now, in addition to STEEM, there will be pairings with Ontology (ONT).
For those who haven't heard of this project, it is a token that received a great deal of attention. Right now, it is sitting at the #19 position on Coinmarkcap.com.
The token has a marketcap of just shy of $650M. This is a project that obviously has some support.
Ontology is a platform that provides tools for the creation of DApps. According to the 
This is one of those ideas that can benefit both ecosystems and help them to grow. We are at such an early stage in this industry that we can all learn from each other. The key thing is to get ideas flowing and experiment with them in different ways.
The important part is where this all fits into the process. Steem is in the development stage, something that is easily overlooked. Like the early days of the internet, it took a while for enough to be built out to attract and handle the masses. We are going to see the same thing happen here.
Consider the fact that it was not long ago that the only exchange tied to Steem was the internal DEX. Now we have both FreedomEx and Steem-Engine providing different services. We have token creation along with smart contracts. With this announcement, we have a partner that is a platform for creating DApps that is going to be traded on FreedomEx.
As we see the creation of more tokens, having the ability to swap them is vital. In a few years, I would expect to see thousands of tokens tied to this ecosystem. Many will not have a great deal of value or use to people. I envision a day when people will be getting a number of tokens for different things, amassing a few of this, a couple of that. Since they are not platforms regularly used, people will have a need to trade them for something that is used. That is where the exchanges come in.
Having options that can handle anything that is created on Steem is of great help. To me, these are fundamental pieces which we need to get into place.
All part of the process for us to move forward.
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