Upvote value cut in half with HF21. Why?

Please read this entire post before freaking out or taking this post out of context. I'm merely offering possibilities about why upvote values seem to have been cut in half, not conclusions. I'm as in the dark as anyone else, and this is now my 2nd post in my effort to get clarity. My previous post was censored by some accounts for reasons unknown to me, but I have my suspicions why.

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but #newsteem (aka Hard fork 21) has cut the dollar value of our upvote in half. I have no idea if this is temporary or permanent, and would like some clarity on the matter if possible.

From what I have read and heard discussed, the reward pool for authors and curators was to go from 75% of total inflation, to 65%. This is to fund the new Steam Proposal System (SPS).

On a relative scale, the 10% cut in author/curator rewards is more like a 15% cut in post payout. I'm just pointing that out as some people may not understand how percentages actually scale. However, for Steem curation I'm not seeing a 15% cut in upvote value, I'm seeing closer to a 50% cut. Whether that translates to a 50% drop in post reward, that remains to be seen but it is alarming to see this disparity.

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Quoting from This Post by @Steemitblog:

The SteemDAO was a concept proposed by @blocktrades to allow Steem users to publicly propose work they are willing to do in exchange for pay. Steem users can then vote on these proposals in almost the same way they vote for witnesses It uses stake-weighted votes, but voters can vote for as many proposals as they want.

Steemit paid $50k USD to @blocktrades for the development of the SteemDAO. Once approved, and after enough time has transpired so as to demonstrate the security and stability of the system (about 1-2 weeks of operation), Steemit will provide initial, one-time funding, by converting 200k STEEM to SBD which will allow the market to test this new feature.

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The pie charts below represent the changes that have supposedly taken place to fund the Steem Proposal System (SPS). The left is before, and the right pie chart is how the inflation is being distributed now:

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Unless I'm missing something, the pie chart on the right is not what we're seeing take place, at least if going by upvote value. HF21 was not supposed to change things enough to be too noticeable, but seeing upvote value cut in half is alarming for curators and authors alike.

Now, if this discrepancy in upvote value is temporary, then it's possible that Steemit Inc are converting the 200,000 Steem into SBD to fund the DAO through the reward pool, instead of using their own reserves of Steem. This of course is not entirely on the up and up, and would be seen by some users as deceptive. If Steemit Inc have informed Steem users in a blog somewhere about the large drop in upvote value, then it might be prudent to offer that information to us where we're more likely to see it. If we're informed beforehand that the upvote value is going to be cut in half, then at least there's transparency and reason to trust those making these decisions.

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Instead of going down the conspiracy rabbit hole (because you only go there when absolutely desperate), I also have to consider that Steemit Inc has decided to cut inflation in half to stabilize the price of Steem on the open market. It's also possible they decided to kill two birds with one stone by funding the DAO and helping inflation at the same time, which is pretty clever in my opinion if true. If you cut inflation in half, then the speculative price of Steem should in theory gain upward momentum in price. You're not going to get a doubling effect for the price per say, but in theory you should see some increase relative to something like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which we are seeing FYI. The price of Steem last I checked was in the positive, while Bitcoin and others are in the slight negative.

That is potentially good news and makes up for a drop in upvote value, at least in the short term. Of course in the long term it really depends on how much cash flow the ecosystem can generate, as to what the real value of Steem should be. A lot of this value is still speculative, and that speculation isn't rich with confidence these days, but that is changing as Steem matures and starts becoming a hub for not just content, but DApps as well. There is no speculative ceiling on what Steem could be worth if a few large and popular projects decide get funding through Steem, and even through the SteemDAO.

Of course, I'm talking about future possibilities, none of this is written in stone.

It would be nice to have some clarity though.

While I have no future plans to power down because in fairness I don't have a noteworthy stake in the project, the progress of the Steem ecosystem does determine how much of my own time I invest in being "here" and interacting with the platform, instead of doing something more useful like rearranging my sock drawer or cutting my nails. I may not care enough to power down, but being able to trust those in charge correlates strongly with whether I decide to buy more Steem and power it up. I'm very certain that I'm not alone on that one.

I know and Steemit Inc knows that users buying Steem and powering up is what actually keeps them funded, not printing new tokens. The tokens are worthless without an influx of new capital. Hopefully the steemDAO and steem-engine can start turning this around. I see a lot of potential here but if greed is what motivates Steemit Inc or any of the witnesses, then the price of Steem deserves to be $0.00 and some heads need to roll.

Just my opinion. I'll stop there before going on a 10 page rant about shareholders and confidence.

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thanks for reading. shares and comments are always welcome. I am not offering expertise or advice in this post, merely my own opinion. Please, stay safe.