If you don't know about it yet, yours.network is a project in progress, which has a rather similar concept to Steem at first glance.
In this article, I'll be covering the main differences between Steem and yours.network. I'll be presenting both the pros and the cons of each point. I'll try to be as objective as possible, however I'll assert my opinion at the end in the conclusion.
1. Yours.network uses the bitcoin blockchain.
Probably the most obvious difference between Steem and Yours is that Yours uses bitcoins, and Steem uses its native currencies and asset - Steem power, Steem, and Steem dollars.
Using the bitcoin blockchain will obviously presenting a few challenges:
Scalability issues.
You may argue that majority of the blocks are right now all full and therefore Yours would have difficulties keeping up with the demand if it does take off not due to its own platform, but rather due to the bitcoin network. But right now this is of little concern.
Transaction times and fees.
Getting one confirmation on the bitcoin network is pretty hard, since blocks are of 10 minute intervals on average. Fees on Steem is literally 0, and the blocks are seconds away from each other. I am aware of Yours attempting to use smart contracts on top of the bitcoin network, but it's too technical for me and probably others to understand - and they haven't released a demo demonstrating that yet.
Too technical, too volatile.
Steem uses Steem dollars, which are worth approximately 1 USD worth of Steem and fully backed by Steem reserves. It is also quite easy to understand, compared to bitcoin, for the average computer user. Bitcoin can lose half its value in a week, or gain double its value in a day. It's way too volatile.
But Ryan Charles(founder of yours.network) have expressed that he'll either have to explain how bitcoin works better, or just switch to USD altogether. That sort of defies the point of cryptocurrencies.
That said, if yours.network can use bitcoin's large user base compared to Steem to its own benefit, then the credit goes to them.
2. 100% liquid expenditure and rewards.
Steem invented "Steempower", the more you hold, the more influence you have on others' earnings. Your curation rewards get paid in full in the form of Steempower, and your author reward is paid half in Steemdollars and half in Steempower. You also get free Steempower when you sign up. Steempower is an illquid asset. When you vote, your Steempower does not get reduced. Rather your voting power get reduced, but that is only temporary.
When you vote on Yours, you literally "vote with your wallet". You are spending real pieces of bitcoins. The BTC gets deducted from your wallet.
This could lead to several things happening:
PROS
- More careful curation, as more is at stake.
- Equality of voting power, since each vote has the same weight(If I'm correct, the demo video shows that every vote is worth 5000 bits)
- More incentive for writers, as they are getting paid by 100% liquid bitcoin tokens.
CONS
- Less opportunity for newbies to curate
- Creation of a severe speculation market(which I'll mention below)
- Impossible to increase your voting power, and get more rewards accordingly.
3. Creation of a content speculation market.
With 100% liquid rewards, there is going to be a content speculation market that can be said to be gambling activity even. With Steem, you're not risking anything - nor are you receiving anything in liquid, tangible form other than Steempower. But with Yours, you're "betting" with real bitcoins.
So rather than curating the content that you like the most, you'd most likely be thinking to yourself: "Is this content going to be liked by others?"
This can lead to the elite writers being always rewarded the most, and the average 99.9% of the writers getting rewarded nothing at all, even if their content deserves curation, because people barely notice it.
Though it can also be argued that if you think that other people are going to like the content - it means that it is a good piece of content. But who really buys shares because it is a good company that they like? They buy shares because they believe there will be future demand for this share.
4. Centralized platform.
Unlike Steem it doesn't store content on a blockchain network. This means that content can be censored and deleted by the admin whenever he wants to.
When you deposit bitcoin to Yours.network, you are trusting the site to hold the coins safe for you. So there is a degree of counterparty risk here. What if there is a breach in the system? This is the exact problem cryptocurrencies are designed to solve - no need to trust anyone to hold your money safe. With Steem's blockchain, there is no such worries.
Conclusion
All in all, yours.network is still a project that is in progress, and no previews has been made publicly yet.
Personally, I think that everything that can be achieved through yours.network can be achieved through Steem, and honestly Steem is already having a growing user base, and it's easier to understand. I think that Steem has more potential as it offers a unique solution to centralization of press, by storing content on a blockchain, while yours.network's developers say that "It is harder than you think to develop your own blockchain".
I guess the two are aiming for different things. Yours.network's success will be mainly come from whether bitcoin catches on or not. It is merely offering a platform for people to share their content and get paid for it. But with Steem I believe the end goal is something more complex - to decentralized media, building a decentralized cryptocurrency,and to reward curators, and authors. Steem, in my opinion, is going to be the overall winner. Even the founder of Yours acknowledged that in a blog post, that Steem is doing a great job.
