While this is being tested and developed, can we also get some basic user features for Steemit? The value of Steem is supposed to be based on the social media platform built on top of it. But there doesn't appear to be much that is attracting potential users to the site - other than the possibility of making money. With the price continuing to plummet and SBD payouts being halted for now, that incentive is losing its luster. Can we expect some of the desired and needed features any time in the near future?
Your concept for smart contracts looks pretty solid, though. It would be great if it can be implemented. That would definitely give Steem a leg up on the competition.
User facing features are being actively worked on by 4 full time engineers. Among these include a next generation editor that is fantastic! Image uploading and notifications are also almost done. We should be deploying these features to a public test later today.
Well that's great news! Thank you for sharing that.
You should also look at @dan-atstarlite's blog post today about a virtual marketplace. I know it has been mentioned in the past, but those ideas can be a gateway for non-crypto and non-bloggers to come to Steemit and to familiarize themselves with the site and with cryptocurrencies.
The account link doesn't seem to be valid.
Sorry. Fixed now.
That is great news! I think the drop in Steem prices with no bottom in sight, and SBDs no longer being paid out in rewards for posting really has the morale of the Steemit community pretty low. Are you guys going to comment on that in the near future, or announce any plans that might rectify the current downward spiral which appears to be gaining momentum as it falls?
Supply and demand will reach parity soon. One of the challenges with Steem Power is that those looking to cashout out are forced to do it over time. This means they cannot "dump" it all and drive the price down quickly (or prevent it from rising quickly).
At some point the price will fall to a level where the early miners are no longer willing to sell. At that point things will consolidate.
Where do you think that point might be? The Steem price is already well below the lows from early May and late June/early July. Market cap is around $25 million, down from the near $400 million peak. There doesn't appear to be any slowing of the downward momentum.
If most of the large stakeholders are still selling into that, then what would make us believe that they wouldn't just keep selling whatever they have left, despite the price continuing to crash? The return on the initial "investment" has probably been more than sufficient to not really care if they're getting a few hundred dollars per week or a few thousand per week at this point. Those who are witnesses and are actively curating (which is becoming more automated) on the platform aren't even really seeing their stake decrease. So powering down and selling, even if they're only getting $200 for it, is still likely a weekly profit for them. The price could drop to a penny and they would still get hundreds of dollars per week.
Dan, is there any data available to compute the price of Steem for the early miners? This may help determine how much more downside risk remains. The early miners can sell below this figure, but it would help to know.
IMHO, most if not all early miners have got their investment (on mining) back long time before (even before the pump in July).
This is exciting! A new user interface for steemit.
I think this blog post has the potential to convert ether investors into steem investors, and that's good for the price of steem :)
I was not aware that SBD payments were halted... link?
Also, just to clarify in case there was confusion - payments have not 'stopped'; they are just being payed in STEEM instead of SBD.
There's no link to an announcement. It's just the current state of payouts due to Steem/SBD supplies and market cap.
It doesn't exactly tell us what's happening now, but this is from August 20th, by @dantheman -
https://steemit.com/steem/@dantheman/steem-dollar-stability-enhancements