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RE: One Steem Is Worth 14$ Right Now
These are just different frontends to the same blockchain. Can you send Steem as you can send Bitcoin? Not really. Steem is an integral part of Steemit and was never intended to be used as other cryptocurrencies.
Any service using Steem would require the user to enter his account credentials, which allows a third party to obtain his active key. Would you entrust your Steem savings to someone else?
The point is that they're different when compared to Steemit.
You can send STEEM as you can with Bitcoin. The receiver will only need to have a Steemit account. You can send me one if you want to. ;) Just choose transfer from your wallet.
Maybe your concern is that with the legality. It's true that STEEM is not legal to be used as money but I think that only means "You don't have any protection that you can use during court trials when something bad happens to your STEEM upon transacting with a merchant." That's all. And who knows, it might get legal someday. There also other alternatives to receive the value reflected in your STEEM wallet. One is exchanging it to BTC via Poloniex, Bittrex, blocktrades, etc.
Not all services require everyone's active keys. Some only require posting keys.
With regards to your question. I don't want to give out my active keys to just anybody. I'll only give it to my family. Also, I think there's a way to renew private keys, just not the master key.
Some people say that you can entrust your permission keys to services that are open-sourced 'cos there everyone can tell that the keys aren't being stored to databases that the service can access to. However, there's a risk of them changing it so I still won't. Does changing from open source to closed source happen though?
Exactly my point - you need to have a Steemit account. Steem is just not the typical cryptocurrency. If Steemit goes down, what happens to your savings?
Legality? Not really. Steem as good as any other cryptocurrency, save for its limitations. In general, crypto markets are not regulated, so you don't have a case for any legal dispute regardless of the cryptocurrency you use - be it Steem or Bitcoin. There are a few regulated exchanges, like Bitfinex or Bitstamp, but I won't have a case even with them - most administrative personnel in Eastern Europe have no idea how to use a computer, let alone have any idea what a cryptocurrency is.
It's true that some services require only the posting keys, but these services can't really handle your Steem (as in moving your Steem there).
Indeed, you can change your keys, but in the mean time your cash will be gone.
Open source services simply provide the code to their software product. You have to know how to read it to reach the conclusion that your data won't be stolen. And, as you say, there's no warranty that they won't introduce some change to their version of the open sourced product, once deployed on the server.
But that doesn't make it any different than bitcoin. BTC requires a wallet that supports it, which means that it requires an account. You need an account in coinbase, bitfinex, etc to be able to own some BTC as well as trade them. Also, obtaining a steemit account won't be like this for long anymore with the recent proposal for HF 20 entitled Velocity.
May I ask why would they need our active keys? Unless they're banks, which is what every crypo is trying to replace, I can't seem to know other examples of services that will ask for it. Does busy.org ask for it? I think they do but I'm not certain. If it's true, I think Steemit Inc trust the developers behind it hence they tell everyone that they're one of the official front ends being supported by Steemit.
If that's the case, then I simply won't give my active keys to just anyone no matter how good their service is. I think I can trust my funds enough to Steemit wallet.
The difference is that you can't take your money out of Steemit. For example, the @poloniex and @bittrex accounts have to store all their Steem here. I'm certain they would rather have it in a private wallet, in case Steemit goes down, because that reduces the risk of their million dollar investment.
With Bitcoin you can have your cryptocurrency on any site or even use your own wallet. You can even print out Bitcoin on a piece of paper, if you wish - it's just a public and a private key.
I mentioned active keys for two reasons:
Correct me if I'm wrong. When I send X amount of steem to @null the coins get burned. I get more coverage, there are fewer coins in circulation, making them more valuable.
You are right that the coins disappear. As far as I am aware, you only get more views on the Promoted tab and nowhere else.
Which brings up two questions:
Something to consider in this respect - there are thousands of dollars in the form of Steem, stuck in inactive user accounts. What would happen if most them return and Power Down?
I've been promoting my posts ever since I joined. As someone working in the entertainment industry, I cannot stress the importance of promoting content. I had a couple of cases where after I paid for promotion I immediately had a boost in a post. Maybe I got lucky. I can speak only from my own experience.
But would you say that you always got back the money from promotion, since day one?
No, I don't give all the credit to promotion. But I believe it did help, even if just a little bit. I don't think finding ways how to make the most money on the platform is its real purpose. I don't feel I lost money, even when I paid more for promotion than the actual payout. I got more coverage, and surely some of my followers found me there.
That's fair enough!