Leaving issuance out of the picture. Let's look at what makes a currency look like Paypal or Bitcoin.

A Crypto-Currency Dressed in Paypal's Clothing

Bitcoin's main properties: A large amount of wallets, a relatively large amount of services and beggars accepting it, supply has a mathematical limit of 21 million. Now this applies mostly to BTC but BCH is also quickly getting acceptance because those who are early early adopters of Bitcoin didn't buy in to sell for a higher price. They bought in because they wanted to create an alternative to banking transfers and accounts. The early adopters and probably the big holders of BTC and BCH also have the same ethos because really the history of BCH starts the same time as BTC.

Let's look at how a user who doesn't have a really high end machine uses Steemit. Hmm... very few wallets. Only one GUI which is a web wallet. There is very small adoption even for a cryptocurrency.

Now compare say Paypal, with how a user uses bitcoin on blockchain.info. It's the same. You login to a website you spend money there. If something happens to that one website you are hosed. This is a misuse of bitcoin. Using bitcoin but not in a peer to peer way.

Now, how do most people use Steem/SBD? Compare that to how someone who uses say electrum or many other multi-coin wallets use Bitcoin (BTC or BCH). Which of these experiences looks like a legitimate crypto-currency and which one looks like a Paypal clone?

Early Coin Advantage

Before Steem will get attention based on transaction capacity, people will have to exhaust the Litecoin and BCH chain's capacity. That's going to take a long time if it ever happens. These two are doing great in terms of health and they also command a high market cap, which implies that is where the monetary "worth" is.

Transactions as Opaque as Glass

Although Bitcoin transactions are public there is a pseudo-anonymity to it with it's ugly bitcoin addresses. Which gives people the wrong impression. Steem makes it easier for people to see what transactions are making rather than making it possible.

Perhaps Steem will shine for charities who wish to inspire confidence with even more radical transparency than what bitcoin provides.

Application developers should look at what makes Steem different from the other cryptos before deciding whether it is the best option for an application.