Adam Haynes simplifies Steemit in Investopedia. His analogy of Steem mimics a marriage.
Here's a link to his article: http://www.investopedia.com/news/steemit-disruptive-blockchainbased-media-community/
In his analogy, here are the options:
- You can divorce Steem and cash out your account into USD and be done with it. The current value of One Steem is a little over $4
- You can commit your cash for 2 years by converting it to Steem Power to gain growth and rewards.
- If you are not ready to commit to Steem Power for 2 years, you can show it some love and convert it to Steem Dollars, which doesn't give as many rewards as Steem Power, but leaves your options open to either cash out in USD and buy something with it or make a 2 year commitment to Steem Power later if you decide to.
It seems that using blockchain technology to create digital currency "Steem" is similar to printing money in the old analog financial system, and the number of Steem available is set to double annually.
But in the article Adam explains that "every 3 1/3 years, there is a self-generated 10:1 reverse split in the supply, resetting the process." Here is his chart:
Year 0: 500 Steem
Year 1: 1000 Steem
Year 2: 2000 Steem
Year 3: 4000 Steem
Year 3.32: 5000 Steam (reverse split now occurs, and the number of Steem goes back to 500 and the process starts all over again)
Steemit writers try to win a popularity contest among users. We the people upvote the posts. The system is democratic, because it is created by users for users, and the content that adds the most value to users wins the most!
Steemit It is also self-censored by those who commit, and free of advertising.
The currency is "decentralized" because it is not regulated or controlled by any banks or governments, but is run by individuals, and because the content creators create the value, and are invested in Steem Power, they are a natural check and balance system for the individuals at the top who are also heavily invested in Steem Power, and are endeared to us as 'Steem Whales'. You may opt out of the system at any time. You can get an annulment.
Sounds like a great marriage of freedom and choice.
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