Exploring Publish0x.com
So Steem has a new competitor. It seems to run on the Ethereum network.
They actually describe themselves as a "Steemit Killer" when you view a blog post via mobile.
I created an account - all I needed was an email address, which I verified. The account system doesn't appear to be crypto related or on the blockchain. My guess is that accounts are run on a SQL database. I would guess that posts and comments are as well.
Authorship is limited. That's a bit more Medium than Steem, but they also describe themselves as a "Medium Killer".
Seems to primarily use a couple of ERC20 tokens.
Also seems like they hold your tokens custodially, since they offer you the option to withdraw them to an external Ethereum wallet:
My thoughts
It seems to be a Medium equivalent created for the Ethereum blockchain, moreso than an equivalent of Steem. Payments are largely via tips, and from the trending page, those amounts are quite low. We have seen a similar model before with Yours.org, but I do expect this will do better than that at least. Payouts will presumably increase with popularity, but can it compete with Steem payouts on an equivalent scale? I am skeptical that tipping models can, we have seen it play out before.
When I viewed a post with mobile, the site was full of ads. Perhaps they share some ad revenue with authors as well.
The limitations of the Ethereum blockchain mean that a lot of it is not native crypto - I doubt the posts are going out to the blockchain. Perhaps a hash of a set of posts do - which may provide some censorship resistance, but if the main platform is based on a SQL database they control, that will be a limited degree. For real censorship resistance you need to be able to publish without permission.
Worth keeping an eye on. The Ethereum community is big and well financed, so it has the potential for a large network effect, at least within the crypto space.