So, as expected - People are super-willing to invest into SteemPower, but then there is Bitcoin. Do I need to write a very long article about this problem or should I just end it right here with a statement: Steem & SteemPower needs to be accessible through other means of payment.
When Bitcoin becomes a problem
I love Bitcoin, it was the first crypto-currency that made me money, but I have listened to STEEM investors complaining about how hard it is to go between Bitcoin to get into STEEM and the customer is right - It is horribly hard and extremely risky to make an investment directly into STEEM/STEEMPOWER for normal internet-users when they have to go through Bitcoin first, it is what it is - Let´s make it EASY :)
Steemit investors are not like crypto-investors
Remember that our community is about 50/50 Male/Female - so already we can state that the steemit community and the investors they attract are ABSOLUTELY not like Crypto-Investors/Bagholders so let´s forget about that market and create an easier market where REAL MONEY can be exchanged for STEEM the super-simple-easy-to-do-way. If we are going to go to the moon - let´s go to the REAL MOON :)
Make it very very easy & legal for investors to invest
The solution is simply to get Steemit Inc. to sign a contract with a payment-processor so that we have that established. Have all the legal work done correctly and make sure the EULA is accepted. Then it will be super easy to just send people directly to Steemit.com to open account, type in card-details and POWER UP.
Hey fyrstikken... I like this idea, I can make a website were I sell SBD for USD / EUR with a 'Stripe' integration? Not sure onto what legal issues I would bump though. Also thing is especially with selling this is that one needs to watch out for creditcard fraud. (Had my fare share of fraudulent creditcard transactions). When I have some more time at hand I will write a working Proof Of Concept!
Awesome @roelandp - I would like to see the card-solution connected directly to the internal market on steemit.com @blocktrades @dan @ned @dantheman - Steemit is gonna be a serious big league site when we do this the right way. Legal & Contracts are important and I think Steemit INC has the funds to guarantee for occasional disputes that may occur in dealing with credit card processing.
"Send people directly to Steemit.com to open account, type in card-details and POWER UP."
Yes this please! @fyrstikken for president LOL! :)
Great ideas! I would love this.
Direct Investment to STEEM from FIAT-money would make it extremely much easier to grow a larger market-cap then Bitcoin as we grow focused and determined.
The german Comunity is testing to buy and sell Steempower via amazon:
https://steemit.com/deutsch/@miketr/projekt-amasteem-steempower-kaufen-und-verkaufen-ueber-amazon-de
First Auktion is running:
https://steemit.com/amasteem/@miketr/biete-5-00eur-amazon-mindestgebot-20-steempower-wer-bietet-mehr
You can make offers in the Tag #amasteem
Can they handle a million dollar investments?
the max giftcode you can buy is 1000 $
It is a easy way to buy steempower without btc
And for newbies it is a way to buy steempower via amazon!
make an offer in the Tag #amasteem
1000 $ amazongiftcode and your min. bid in steempower
It will not be sufficient. I´m reaching investors with big legal money, so we need a system that can handle everything from $50,000 to $1,000,000 investments. We cannot base ourself on some retail gift-card systems.
a gift card is (small) legal money!
this can be a way to go mainstreem!!
if 10,000 user invest 50$ over a amazon giftcard in Steempower? how much is it?
and we can have many new User who dont know what btc wallet trading etc. is!
where is the problem!
you can buy with 50K legal $ btc and invest in steem?
we can make a Deal:
send me every amount of $
I have a Bankacount on fidor.de and can direkt buy btc on bitcoin.de!
with the btc i can buy Steem for you!
I can do this for you 10% for my work :-)
Make simply a test auktion in the tag #amasteem
I bid 1000$ gift on amazon min bid what you want
You can not lose if nobody bid!
or you can easy buy steem with your Card over amazon
See the german auction at #amasteem
This is definitely something that needs to be addressed. It makes no sense, considering the fact that SBD is pegged to US, for us not to have a direct Steem/fiat exchange system.
I've resteemed this because I think it's an important issue worth addressing.
very true @senseiteekay. The world is FULL of CASH, and most of it is not in Bitcoin ;)
i am not very well versed in cryptocurrency and i was able to go between btc and steem pretty easy using an online exchange? but when i tried to explain it to others to try and get them into steemit they just gave up saying it sounded too difficult :/ i think some sort of card like this would encourage others to use it who also don't understand it very well.
good post~! upvoted
I've experienced the same problem when getting friends to use this platform. A week after they've joined they're messaging me asking how to exchange their newly found rewards. It's frustrating for me having to answer the same question one hundred times. Solving this problem would definitely save a lot of users from getting headaches in the future.
Agreed, I would love to see someone come up with a solution..
I think once a service is made available we're going to see a lot more people powering up, and hopefully an influx of new powerful accounts..
Resteemed...
Well if Steem could get onto Kraken or Coinbase, people could buy it directly with dollars or euros. The problem is those exchanges won't touch steem as the market cap drops day by day.
This is a great idea! Some people like my mom's boyfriend, have an aversion bitcoin because of what I assume him overhearing it being bad mouth. This is perfect for other who are like that who only want to invest in a "social media platform" and not cryptocurrency.
REQUIRED FOR MAINSTREEM.
A very good point to bring up as we consider the future of steemit Good idea, @fyrstikken.
A great Idea fyrstikken
Totally and absolutely right!
I'm an example of someone who has no experience with crypto, and I REALLY don't want the hassle to buy bitcoin!
I´m afraid that I will mistype a character and lose all my money.
If I could go to my bank and buy directly, I would have powered up many times by now. Instead I ended up spending the money that I had planned to invest.
maybe Steem needs to develope a sophisticated wallet like, Decent, from their ico wallet you can buy it 5 ways, one being with cash
maybe Steem needs to develope a sophisticated wallet like, Decent, from their ico wallet you can buy it 5 ways, one being with cash
I love this idea! I wish I had the money to invest because I really believe in this platform and the potential for Steem.
@fyrstikken It is a great idea but for this to happen in the United States there are a lot of hurdles to overcome. I'm not an expert so don't take any of this as legal advice but basically every state has their own money transmitter licenses. This is very hard to deal with and that is why some of these crypto companies entirely pull out of certain states. If they are uncertain it is too scary to not know.
Then there is the question of what exactly is a Steemit account. Is it property? Is it an investment vehicle? Is this money that a 3rd party is holding (Steemit INC) ......etc.
It is very scary for companies in the United States. I don't know all the details to the Charlie Shrem case but I can tell you this. NO ONE WANTS TO END UP IN CLUB FED.
I think the most logical route for there to be a quicker bridge from Fiat to STEEM is to get Kraken, Coinbase, or Circle to have a USD/STEEM hash....but that isn't that much closer and isn't as seamless as someone getting on Steemit and using a credit card to power up.
Also I'm impressed that you know all these people with mad cash interested in investing.
To buy SteemPower for your Blog-Account can hardly be more complex then buying BOOST for your Facebook-Account.
I´ve spent over $100K buying Boost and Post Promotion on Facebook, they accept all major credit cards over there - business is great :)
That is a great point and I would 100% agree with you. But ask yourself this. Why do cryto gambling sites get shut down by state gaming commissions for running gambling operations without licenses and then thrown in CLUB FED but yet it is ok to have these rigged little claw games all over the place here? Or you can go to these places called Chucky Cheese and exchange fiat money for Chucky Cheese tokens and then play games to win tickets which will buy you cheap stuffed animals. To me that is no different than an Alt coin exchange. Unfortunately these government regulators don't see it the same way. I'm with you 100% but all it takes is some regulator to decide that what is being done is unlicensed money transmission or some other BS and suddenly you are getting taken to pound town by some 6' 8" inmate who is a lifer for double homicide.
I totally agree but am unsure if their is some kind of regulation involved once this is done. It is the only way to open this up to the masses.
We want to become the largest "IT" on the Internet - and we want the LARGEST masses to use this and other STEEM-platforms in the future so, we must use all means necessary to make the path easy for people to buy our product - STEEM & SteemPower.
Steem's current dependence on Bitcoin/Ether (since either can be exchanged for fiat easily) does make it challenging to attract new (non-crypto-people) big investors. Even referring to the Steem token as an "investment" is problematic. Perhaps finding a country whose laws would treat the Steem token as a collectible - like the digital equivalent of old stamps/coins/baseball cards, etc - would be a good start towards resolving this problem, as collectibles are treated with kid gloves by regulators in the US, Europe, and probably elsewhere...
Hi @fyrstikken, I just stopped back to let you know your post was one of my favourite reads yesterday and I included it in my Steemit Ramble. You can read what I wrote about your post here.
Completely agree but think this will happen with time if it get more popular.
This post has been linked to from another place on Steem.
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I proposed this like a week ago. I'm on board. I think it should go through Polonix rather than Steemit. Steemit seems busy or un responsive to this.
I have wondered how a person could simply power up using their credit or bank card.
There are already others building fund management platforms that have normal payment channels like the dollar and Euro. Iconomi is one of those platforms, so if you create a fund that includes Steem or SBD, they can invest with dollars. You also have to remember, that most companies who on-ramp from fiat currency into Bitcoin or any other digital currency, are the main ones who are facing regulations. It's still up in the air what many regulations will be when dealing with the fiat aspect. Not to mention, traditional banking and credit card companies shut down accounts for many bitcoin related companies and projects. So, it may not be in Steemit's best interest to mess with all that. If Steem and SBD become huge in the future, you could very well see them added to Coinbase just like Ethereum was this year. And look at all the regs they have to go by. I do agree that the biggest hurdle to get investors into this space is the non-ability to buy in with their credit card or banks draft. If you have to touch Bitcoin or Ethereum first, and its a pain point, you lose a large % of potential investors right up front. Check out Iconomi's latest blog to see a sneak peak at their fund management software that will let investors buy into funds with traditional payment methods: https://medium.com/iconominet