Can STEEM be considered as a payment instrument like BTC or ETH in e-commerce sites? What properties of cryptos are considered & where does STEEM stand against that?
STEEM could be used as a payment system like any cryptocurrency in e-commerce. It fact, it is much better for it than BTC or ETH because
- STEEM is fast - payment are confirmed in three seconds
- STEEM is free - there are no transaction fees
- STEEM has human-readable addresses - STEEM wallets are very easy to use
Bitcoin and Ether are less volatile because they have much larger market caps but the difference is insignificant for practical purposes.
It should be remembered that the Steem blockchain actually has two transferable tokens, STEEM and SBD (Steem Backed Dollar), which is a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. The peg is far from perfect but SBD is still much more stable than STEEM.
I would say that the only thing holding the Steem blockchain back as a payment system is its lower rate of adoption rather than lacking suitable tecnological features or user-friendliness. By those measures, it is, in fact, superior to Proof-of-Work coins like BTC or ETH.