The pool idea actually isn't mine. It's my understanding that the lead developer at Steemit is making it happening for sure. Soon™. I view it less as "show me your quality" and more as "don't spam the network with garbage and you can stay".

It's true that even dirt-poor Americans have money to throw at non-essentials. Other people aren't so lucky. The truth is, we haven't lost anything. We've actually gained the ability to onboard a lot more users than we otherwise could have.

The network effect that we are creating here is going to help the poorest nations first (as long as they have internet access of course). When I spend an hour writing a post and I get $5, financially I almost feel like I'm wasting my time. To other people $5 is a lot of money, and hopefully they don't live in a culture that encourages spending money on frivolous things at every turn.

SMTs will provide a way to distance ourselves from the Steem currency. Let's say I made an amazing app that will go viral. Do I want to make haejin rich at the same time? No thanks. Instead I use SMT protocol to quarantine my app and capture all the value. But what if people with no RCs want to use my app? Well, no problem, they can join my pool and use my app all they want.

Without HF20 the Steem network cannot guarantee a sable and safe space for SMTs. With HF20, Steem is now delegating the responsibility of blockchain interaction to the entire community.