Today I read an article on Steemit giving the advice to everyone to power down their Steem Power because Steem was going down. He got quite some upvotes for making such a post, meaning that there are people agreeing with this view. Everyone is of course entitled to have their own view on the matters. But I will give my own view on it and explain why I think powering down on Steem Power is the biggest mistake one can make being a little fish.
How can Steemit do better than Santa ?
If you power down you are basically saying that you don't believe in the project. You don't see any potential in it and probably think Steemit is a Ponzi Scheme. You are just here to make some few bucks and hope to get your money out of here as fast as possible before everything collapses.
Due to the free money people are getting at the moment, it might feel like a Ponzi Scheme. People wonder how such a system can be sustainable. This just looks too good to be true. Whenever someone is giving you more than Santa on christmas, something fishy must be going on.
Actually I do understand your concerns. Initially, I wasn't too sure about the sustainability of this scheme either. But once you understand the scheme better, you start realizing that it isn't as weird as it looks. I am not saying I understand every detail about how Steemit implements the scheme. But I did some research about it the past days and I start to get why it is sustainable.
In order to understand its sustainability, you need to realize that the underlying cryptocurrency of Steemit is the engine that makes this scheme viable. Steem is a cryptocurrency that just like Bitcoin and every other cryptocurrency out there, is being mined. Steem gets its value on the market, just like Bitcoin or Ethereum do. At the current moment Steem is valued at $2.7. So every Steem coming into existence is worth $2.7. Large quantities of Steem are being mined at the moment on a daily basis. And what Steemit does is distribute a portion of the mined Steems under its users based on the quality of the content they provide. If Steem loses value, the same amount of Steem is redistributed but now they just are less worth in dollar terms. So people will earn less dollars when they get upvoted. That's how it works and that's why it isn't a Ponzi scheme.
But what about the Steem price going down lately ?
That's true. Steem is going down. But why would that be a problem ? This is only a problem if you have a very short-term mindset and don't understand the potential of this project. This is a problem if you let emotions be your guide instead of sticking to something for the long-term because of its yet undiscovered potential. Yes, Steem topped at $4.5 and pulled back to $2.7. That doesn't mean it is collapsing. Maybe this short-term price drop is a temporary drop due to the Ethereum hard fork. But why bother about short-term price swings ? A month ago Steem was worth $0.2. That's more than 1000 % gain in 1 month. Does that sound like something that is about to collapse ?
Steemit is a new project. Though the market cap has increased enourmously over a very short time period, that doesn't mean it has topped. Many investors still have no idea about Steemit. Others are still waiting a little bit to see whether the project evolves in the right direction before entering. When Steemit proofs itself a bit more and investors get to hear about it, a huge inflow of money could get into Steemit causing Steem to soar. If that happens, all those that powered down will heavily regret they did. The regret will be similar to the one early-bitcoin adopters experienced when they sold off Bitcoin at 10 $, missing out the huge bullrun to $1000. So don't be blinded by a short-term vision of the Steem price.
The purpose of Steem Power
As a little fish that wants to do serious business on steemit, you just HAVE to own Steem Power !!! I hear many people complain about the power of the whales. I did my fair share of complaining too. But on the other hand, I see very few people actually invest in Steem Power. Many subscribers try to run away from Steem Dollar into Bitcoin as fast as they can. Well, gues what. If you don't invest in Steem Power, then stop complaining about the power of the whales. First have a look in the mirror before you criticize others. If you don't invest in Steem Power, of course you are going to get frustrated here. You are only here to get free money, but not willing to do your fair part of the work and give something back to the community so it grows.
Showing gratitude to the Steemit community
Whales do have a big responsibility here, but so do you as a little fish. Without the little fish this platform is doomed. And when this platform collapses this is bad for everyone of us. The Steemit community is rewarding you with money if you write an amazing article. Do you know any other platform that rewards you this much for writing a quality article ? If you know one, please, let me know because then I need to make an account there. But I don't think it exists. So a little bit of gratitude towards the community wouldn't harm. I don't feel entitled to tell peope how to show gratitude but I know for sure that you don't do that by powering down your Steem Power and moving all your profits out of Steemit.
Conclusion
My final conclusion is that I think all little fish that power down because they are blinded by a very short-term vision, will regret this in the long run. Those little fish that stay because they see its potential and because they want to make something beautiful out of this community ... they are the ones that in the future will turn out to have made the right decision.