Explainer: Value Flows on Steem with SMTs [VIDEO]
Hey guys check out my new video talking about the economics of Steem with the advent of SMTs. Be sure to leave comments and tell your friends!
SMTs...
- increase demand for STEEM as the blockchain's bandwidth token
- attract new capital to the ecosystem with ICOs
- tie up STEEM supply with Automated Market Makers
- create new utility for STEEM with Influence Sharing
- become a big part of "Steem: the world's advertising network"
And I'm going to be taking more questions and doing more videos - so watch this too and be part of the next video
And stay tuned for a 6th value proposition of SMTs: The value of more decentralized and capitalized organizations on Steem
Based on the many comments from Steemit, Inc. personnel over a period of many months now, development of Steemit.com seems to be an afterthought. They stated a few months back that Steemit.com will only be "just good enough." And recently on Steemit.chat, @sneak stated that backend development is the priority for the foreseeable future.
Simple features and functionality that have/has been requested by users since last year continue to be disregarded in favor of half-developed ideas and changes to blockchain protocols that drastically change user behaviors. Some of these blockchain protocol changes haven't even been requested by users or developers - they just happen to be related to Steemit, Inc's plans for future development, which is the exact opposite of decentralization.
The real issue, though - as I have stated before - is the constant conflation between Steem the blockchain/platform and Steemit, Inc., the company that owns the social media site: Steemit.com. When development of the website doesn't happen and the company that owns it continues with hardforks and other backend development, what should users, developers, and investors think/expect? The confusion lies directly at the feet of the company.
So...what happens with Steemit?
If I were a betting man: Not much at all, at least not any time soon. There doesn't appear to be anyone at Steemit, Inc. who knows how to run a social media site/company. And if there's no development being done and no immediate plans for it, let's dispense with the "Beta" pretense and just accept that this may be about as good a website as we're likely to get.
I suppose we can wait for the 2018 road map to see what the plans are, but that'll be at least another three months away. And it's not likely that the planned release dates for 2018 will be entirely accurate anyway.
Steemit is an experiment, nothing more...
Bookmark
an experiment ? do you mean that will not improve and we are wasting our time here ?
I would say that is a question; but I believe you are asking the wrong person.. ;-)
Maybe, they plan to get the "backend" to a level best suited for mass adoption?
wow
I like the idea of Steemit website so much. I agree with @nanzo-scoop and @ats-david.
It is becoming really dangerous to continue to ignore Steemit development.
This and only this was a success story so far. Steemit website. Not Steem!
As an experienced & successful internet marketeer, I can't wait any longer - I need to say this - @ned please read:
If you manage to combine this idea with an affiliate program giving 20% to the affiliates (20% of all Steem your referred users earn, not taking from them - adding 20% on the top of that), I am almost sure Steem will become the #1 crypto investment!
And several months later, on the top of success, you launch SMTs and everything else you planned!
Official steemit curators would increase the amount of centralization on the platform, and would do nothing to address the issues laid out in ATS-David's comment.
also you can't arbitrarily add "20% on top" as an affiliate reward, as that would increase the currency's inflation rate by 20%.
Hi heymattsokol. Thanks for your reply.
I see this as a great marketing decision and will be really upset if @ned will not even read it. If @ned reads it, just thinks it is not suitable, fine, but I need to inform about this opportunity as it is also discussed with a number of other good online marketers and everybody agrees this may skyrocket Steemit with very low effort.
"Even if it is, who cares about 20% if this is the way to increase Steem value by thousands of %."
I'm sorry but if you believe that increasing the inflation rate by 20% is something that people shouldn't care about, you are not thinking clearly about this issue.
There's no rational reason to believe that such a decision would "increase steem by thousands of percent" - if only it were so easy.
There are many reasons to expect great results. For example, don't you think such a marketing approach:
Referring to TOP-30 posts/comments idea - this is super easy to implement, no risk at all. Referring to Affiliate Program - depends on where to get those 20% affiliate reward... but do we have any other idea how to skyrocket this project cheaper?
I know for sure - when a project does not have a huge marketing effort for daily promotion across all media channels, just do a non-greedy Affiliate Program. The more you share with affiliates the better - they will skyrocket your project. For example, IQoption - the largest trading website in the world - appeared from nowhere, became #1, billion dollars in turnover. Why? They were not greedy and offered 50% to their affiliates.
I dont know why "they" throw such a great idea and just sat on it like this...reminds of Bernie Mac in def jam when asked a prisoner:
B: Say brother, why u here 4?
P: Nuttin!
B:Well how long u here 4?
P: 'Ever!
B: That's a very long time that u took the "4" out that maddaphaka
Interesting how people think they can make money on steem by replying to posts...
@coingirl sometimes it happens...its called the lazy man syndrome..
Bookmark
It's always been pretty clear that steemit.com isn't the top priority for Steemit Inc and I think it is the right choice. They should be focusing on the blockchain itself. We've already seen what individuals can do here with the releases of @Dtube and @Dsound. Making the backend work flawlessly even in the face of mass adoption would attract even more such individuals and projects.
Also SMT's would mean that these developers can do ICO raising funds just as with Ethereum. This is a big deal and will certainly grow the value of the whole ecosystem.
So I'm saying Steemit Inc should focus on the work behind the curtains. Make the engine work so car builders can use it.
Steemit.com will be just one of the many. It's just a stepping stone, nothing more.
Very interesting counter point!
I really have high hopes for steemit... i really do... I'm hoping whoever is actually behind the development of steemit.com will listen to the users and give them the 'social media' fixes that are keeping us from making it to the mainstream. I really think @ned and @dan were on to something here!!! Lets get steemit.com out of beta and really do this thing!!!!!!!!!!
I like the information :)
But for the future i have a little tips when it comes to making video.
The background music in this video was so load that it was no longer the background music, but become the main sound in this video, and some times it was actually difficult to hear what was said because the music was loader then the one that talked.
I only say this, because i think in the first place it was a great video and want the message in the video to be clear. :)
Hope you have a great day when u read this.
(Sadly i dont have voting power for upvote now, so i can only comment..)
I see the points you are making but I do feel back end dev is much more important right now. Remember that by any reasonable measure these are still the incredibly early days of this enterprise. I can live with a functioning site that could look prettier and I dont see any of the current UI issues as more than little niggles personally
:( lameeeee
Seriously. Any account can be killed by individual(s) with clout, publishers aren't going to sink in time/money/investment into a system with no protection nor recourse against that.
What's better? Being a successful website or being the environment on which thousands of social media websites can be created?
Thousands of (failing) social media websites vs Facebook. I know which I'd rather be!
The social media landscape shows where the trend is going... Audiences are congregating around a handful mega sites.
Done right I'd bet on a single decentralised blockchain social media platform/ token (e.g. Steem and it's apps) succeeding, over thousands of tokens/ sites with limited or no usage.
The premise of the OP is value flowing back to STEEM, it would make sense to make the core product... well, valuable.
The only way I see these thousands of tokens working out is if there is some revenue sharing or dividends or interest. The same way Steemit originally had interest on top of Steem Dollars is the way to attract people to buy these tokens.
Will people buy these tokens if they are just a gamblers paradise? No. If these tokens also are just a bunch of scams and startups then again it's very high risk and not necessarily going to be a high enough return to be fully worth it.
The early ICOs really have to be huge successes for this to takeoff and they have to be very effective profit generators. If the projects that launch these ICOs are just pie in the sky type stuff like we see on Ethereum then I don't see it being sustainable. At some point there has to be revenue and that revenue has to either be shared with token holders or tokens have to be bought back and burned to reduce supply over time to encourage people to hold it.
In order to have a few successes you need a massive amount of failed experiments. That's what the SMTs are about. Enabling devs to have control over a business rather than being at the mercy of STEEM Inc if it decides to chance the parameter on the STEEM token. (like the reward curve for example).
We reduced the chance of a hardfork massively by doing so.
Of course but you need early successes to build enough momentum to have permission to fail. Perception matters!
we will be able to downvote and call out scams. This is not possible with Ether ICOs
The BLOCKCHAIN is where it is about, but without steem will be imposible :-)
There's bound to be some successes in there too! Maybe one greater than facebook!
actually, you've got the trend backward. It's going from mega site to specialized websites. Facebook had 1/2 as many post this year than the year before while specialized site such as snapchat or 4chan are going parabolic. (my job is as a Facebook advertiser, so I know where it's going)
The forum world, another example of specialized site, is a MASSIVE market ready to be tapped into. Combined they are almost as big as Facebook.
Finally, the chances that steemit.com becoming a top 10 website are extremely slim and putting all your eggs in that basket is risky. Empowering people with expertise and ideas to experiment, increase the chances of success.
I'd argue Snapchat is another mega-platform (rather than a specialised offshoot of something else). Imagine if Snapchat had diluted it's core offering before it had even gained traction (like Steem is proposing)?
Forums have been huge before Facebook. Yet people know Reddit to be the premiere forum.
Steem should focus on gaining a critical mass (as the blockchain, user-reward based social media platform), before outreach. Success with Steem first, then SMTs become more viable...
If Kik wanted to launch via a Steem SMT what advantage would they have on Steem vs on Ethereum?
Great question! First there are the token characteristics which would be immediately superior with 3 second fee-less transfers, but more importantly they would be able to launch the token with minimal engineering investment. People seriously underestimate just how much work it requires to launch an ERC20 before you even get to the mechanics of making sure that the token actually serves a function. Kik doesn't want to be a blockchain company and they shouldn't have to be just to integrate a token that actually works. When SMTs launch they will be far and away the easiest and most efficient way to integrate a token that will just work. The tokens will immediately start flowing to Kik's most valuable users as determined by the stake-weighted upvotes of Kik's users.
Community Liaison, Steemit
STEEM was never about steemit alone. Steemit is a proof of concept of what the STEEM blockchain was capable of. That doesn't mean steemit will stop to develop but it means that now devs won't start their own chain because they have no power to decide on their reward pool parameter and raise fund like Steemit INC was able to.
Critical mass will be achieve by thousands of experiments, maybe steemit.com will be the one to make it but why bank on one alone?
As with most development it is rarely "either/ or" but prioritisation and timing.
It would be good to hear from Steemit Inc on how development and roadmap of Steemit and other apps (e.g. mobile app) will be impacted by SMT.
this development goes hand in hand with the community feature. I would expect the major overhaul of the front-end by SteemFest.
@cryptoctopus 4chan going parabolic? Really? Can you point me at some evidence to back that claim? Not disputing it - like you said this stuff IS your job, just surprised and curious
I agree with you. But the SMT improves the probability that the evolving mega site will use the steem blockchain.
@amirl you have been followed
True. Enable others, everyone should take a look at Ethereum. It's a platform that enables everyone to build something on it and raise funds for their projects - and is doing quite well one could say. I'd rather replicate that.
Yes I agreed with you @nanzo-scoop
@nanzo-scoop I totally agree with you. Before joining steemit I used to surf hours on Facebook. But now I pay about 90% of my free time on steemit. Because as you said its valuable..
the internet is the environment on which thousands of websites can be created. it was free and decentralized and marketing found a way to centralize it again. seeing all these bots receiving investments in steem dollars by transfers of the authors to bots which are returning them the sum multipled by 1.5 as a reward under their posts is already pointing in wrong direction. but that can be fixed. anyway, a free network is no guarantee to be free of loopholes that can be exploited by clever people in the market.
it wasn't marketing that found a way. It's just the 80/20 rule happening...all creative endeavors distribute themselves according to this power law.
Holly Smokes @nanzo-scoop - you scooped me!
@greenman you have been followed
lol @joendegz you have equally been followed and same as you @greenman
Great people at work
excelenty!
Really, really good!
of course
you have been followed
cool. will follow too asap
How much flexibility do companies have over Steem is the question? Does a company like say Reddit have the ability to launch an SMT which then allows holders of this token to for example receive a share of the revenue of Reddit.com? In that case I see huge huge potential for SMT because all these media companies are not going to want to recreate Steem if they can just launch their own tokens over it and have their own economies or economic kingdoms.
This is the best-case scenario that I imagine. Like content/audience auditing software for organizations that already exist to evaluate where eyeballs are coming from and where dollars should go regarding producers. A turnkey solution
Yes, this is the same question I had (if I read your comment correctly). What stops them from launching their own cryptocurrencies?
Your post confirmed what I was pondering:
I think Steemit will remain to stay its own kind of Social Media platform, especially concerning the blockchain world as its topic. Why would they stop developing Steemit though? It's still in beta right? I would assume SMT's to just be a part of the whole Steemit project, not a way to spend all their time and attention on just that.
Certainty is always a good thing though...
In an ideal world this announcement would have coincided with a major upgrade to Steemit or release of a new app (e.g. the mobile app). If Steem Inc can do both, with no impact on the other, then fantastic. Let's see.
Damn nanzo ur on fire ma man 😁 tell em 😁👶
so what is up with the mobile app? any word if it will still be out by the end of the year?
Great question, looking forward to that. A referral/affiliate program would be great too I am working on getting a few very talented friends here. Cheers ;)
So will SMTs be a positive or a negative for the value of the STEEM token? Based on @ned's video, sounds like a positive?
Steemit will become the social media site where all the Steem millionaires and billionaires hang out, and where all the hopefuls come to persuade people to support their new tokens.
22 Reasons you should buy my token!
@surfyogi you have been followed
@kendewitt you have been followed
Scoop that was suoer dope . holla at your boy ya herd....
@urbansteemers you have been followed
Steem will be considered
@zahidzzs you have been followed
Bookmark
If i decided to launch an ICO that required 500,000,000 tokens, how would this be achieved?
Nanzo!! My man :D
@crypt0 you have been followed
Bookmark
nice
very helping information,i got my knowledge updated
We lacking long-term perspective: Steemit is areality-check for any Steem-related tech in the future....
If i decide to submit an ICO and need #500,000,000 tokens, how will that be achievable with this new structure?
@zulu2017 you have been followed
I am still being censored
I think Luke's questions resonate, and that might be the other side of this. Steemit, vs the STEEM currency, and inbetween, or facilitating both; the steem blockchain.
Each is almost it's own product, and in reflection; I can see that Steem will never be appreciated in it's current format as a POWERFUL and MODERN blockchain until it is primarily promoted as such. AS a product: Steem.
And so Steem gets lost in the shadow of a community getting it on at Steemit. Steemit overshadows the real power of Steem, and the current price of STEEM reflects that in ways, that must be very disappointing to many of us..
So what to do? ;-) SMTs
And SMTs certainly do evolve the Steem blockchain in several ways.
But the real model I see as the "New Model for the Internet" (Web3) is really Steemit in so many ways.
Steemit:
Built from the ground up to be an Ad-free uncensorable free speech platform, powered by it's own economy, creating value based on the community's attention and contributions, motivating people in a very obvious way, to participate. An idea that should be VIRAL if properly executed.
SMTs: I don't see any such thing there. An advertising network built on top of STEEM (tm) to power user contributed content (not necessarily on a block-chain, not necessarily decentralized, certainly not ad-free)?
It just seems like there are so many details left out here @ned...
it does seem your passion has moved on, to creating an entirely different product altogether; and then using Steemit as an example of how others can do the same thing (only better?), and they can take on FB, YT and the rest.
Great explanation for where value might come from into the Steem ecosystem. Thank you.
Question: What if we build an amazing mouse trap, the best one that ever was, and still no one shows up? BitShares and STEEM are incredible blockchains from a technical perspective, but the value of their tokens and their overall usage as a DEX or Social Media platform don't seem to reflect that reality. What are your concerns related to this and SMTs? If you build this amazing thing, how will you promote it? How will people like The New York Times take you and the STEEM blockchain seriously enough to try it out? So far, the marketing efforts of Steemit,inc have been a bit ad-hoc, so I'd love to see some solid plans here or maybe even some signed contracts with some big players to launch this with once it's ready. Is this being done behind the scenes?
This!
I agree with many of your points.
In my view, Steemit is not really ready for mass adoption. For every 10 people I have signed up to the platform only 1 or 2 actually post consistently. The rest just quit claiming it is too complicated to use. This is actually not a bad retention rate when you condider the 1% rule of thumb pertaining to participation in an internet community.
The user experience on Steemit is not geared towards mass adoption as of yet. For a content creator like myself I love the platform and will continue using it, but to talk of taking it to the masses in its current form is laughable.
What good does it do to bring it to market if the majority people who sign up don't do anything with it?
All this would serve to do is create 9 out of 10 dissatisfied users spreading their negative reactions to signing up. It need more work prior to bringing it to the masses.
Still, the platform has been doing incredibly well and the users that do genuinly get involved create some great content and communities within the platform are growing organically. Yet, relatively speaking, most people online are content consumers, not creators. This has been the case since the internet was created and I don't see it changing just because Steemit came along.
The protocol of Steemit is a very unique way to reward an online community for content creation and for engaging with the community and the prospect of adding those capabilities to other websites with the use of SMT's is a step in the right direction regardless of the current government pushback on ICO's.
This could bring more awareness to Steemit and cryptos in general to a lot more people through their exposure of getting rewarded on sites they currently engage with as those sites begin to implement SMT's and as a result it should be good for Steem holders.
I'll be watching these developments closely.
Great line of thinking and questions...I hope we get some indications soon
People showing up is going to take some serious platform development in my opinion.
I agree, without any real effort to promote Steemit what value will come of it? It's like when I talk to my friends about Bitcoin or any altcoin they just stare at me.
Are SMTs in direct or partial competition with EOS?
Let's get a response to that from @ned on video! I think it makes more sense to ask it the other way around actually! :)
Community Liaison, Steemit
great question here -
this is one of my questions as well.
SMTs on Steemit are the equivalent of UIA on Bitshares, already used by many projects and whales to support communities here, so this is a way to bring that function internal to Steemit itself. This has nothing to do with EOS. :-)
I posted my comment below before reading this.
Yes, I do find similarities between UIAs and SMT. But where do they differ?
SMTs are Steem-specific (to bring in more demand for Steem)? As for UIAs, you create your own token for your own consumption and you generate the demand for it?
The functionality and purpose will be identical. Everything mentioned in the notes about SMT is what UIA(and similar assets) on Bitshares DEX already does. The only difference will be where they are created and traded -- UIA on the Bitshares DEX, and SMT will have to be on a new internal Steemit DEX.
But, since at the moment people/platforms/projects use UIA on Bitshares DEX to exchange for upvotes to support communities on Steemit it technically builds value in Bitshares Branding ( and also in exchange fees). Steemit/STEEM gains nothing from it directly.
So that's why I mentioned this is just a way to bring that function internally to Steemit. Keeps the money, fees, and users in STEEM. One-stop-shop. So that will be a good thing in the long run.
There was some debate in the other comments about the "ICO" aspect being promoted as the biggest part, but that draws regulation/law issues in many countries. So perhaps a rephrasing of that or how it builds in will evolve as they go along.
Just my thoughts on it all. ;-)
Thank you for this. I guess the real learning comes when SMTs are actually implemented and put into use.
What I can see from it is that SMTs and UIA are not in direct competition with each other but 'symbiotic' in nature and just feeding off each other?
Basically what I want to grasp is, when are SMTs beneficial to use and what are UIAs beneficial to use for (besides buying upvotes)?
Correct me if I am wrong, but ain't those two different from one another? SMT's are a tool to implement the same kind of functions Steemit has, to an already build platform. EOS is used to make the platform itself.
EOS is a blockchain operating system, the simplest way to explain it. It's not an ICO factory.
Used to build those applications on, that is how I understand it. So SMT's would be linked to those applications made on the EOS blockchain.
SMTs on Steemit are the equivalent of UIA on Bitshares, already used by many projects and whales to support communities here, so this is a way to bring that function internal to Steemit itself. This has nothing to do with EOS.
I think that steemit inc. will kill EOS and Ethereum with one shot.
Well, I don't think they'll do anything to each other but help each other, to be honest. I think that it will be pretty harmonious; symbiotic. Well, aside from Ethereum. I feel like that one's going to suffer some harsh blows.
What about NEO? It gained a lot recently!
We already have a 400K community with wallets and keys. Nobody can catch up. They're too late.
Of which 31k are using it regularly. Of which 5-6k are bots (could be even more!). That leaves about 25k active users.
Engagement is the key.
If you think that SMTs will kill NEO, you are dreaming.
Sorry. I didn't say that.
OK.
Then, could you explain what you mean by "Nobody can catch up" to the question "What about NEO?" ?
We already have a big community, working platform and many different ways to utilize steem and steemit. But that's are just my thoughts and gut feeling. I don't know anything about the whole thing from the technical perspective. If you look at the real life you can see that the first mover advantage is difficult to catch.
Slovenian BOSSMAN lady’s and gentleman’s 😁💪💪💪 @oldtimer !!
Yes, I believe it is.
the same here
I don't think that the two are really comparable.
Similar question here. How does it differ from creating a User Issued Asset (UIA) in DEX?
@vcelier you have been followed
I'm thinking about SMTs for individuals as it seems to be the most fitting solution with the right kind of features (Steem users will understand). Everyone should have their own currency as we all have our own web of interactions / communities. Is it feasible to have individual tokens be the gateway to one's offering of goods and services? The nature of these tokens will mostly be infrequently traded and will occupy the long-tail, which is why the market maker / taker mechanism presented in the whitepaper shows that the network will be capable of making SMTs as widely adopted as smartphones. Anyway, what are your thoughts about this? Best practices, token initialisation ideas, etc. Planning to spend lots of time exploring the possibilities of SMTs as I think there's great potential here beyond the current publisher / creator marketing angle on the SMT website. Great work on the whitepaper by the way!
Everyone has their own coin?! Corporations? Individuals? This is genius!
What else other than a platform which allows everybody to easily run their own social currencies / communities along with others ;) lol
These ongoing explanation videos are very useful for the community. SMTs are a simple idea, yet they have so many different facets and potential uses. I've enjoyed seeing the light bulbs go off in peoples' minds as they grasp all of the implications.
The idea is simple but the whitepaper isn't. I read five pages and my brain started shaking.
haha, yeah not my thing either. Maybe they'll make a blue paper for this as well eventually ;)
With so much uncertainties regarding the legality of ICOs in certain countries, what does it look like for the future of SMTs in your opinion? Also...when are you going to update the bluepaper to include the link to smt.steem.io?
what we are all wondering is this: How will the SEC treat Smart Media Tokens? Will releasing them into the wild bring more scrutiny to the Steem ecosystem? This needs legal attention obviously.
If they spent four months on this, I'm sure they address this aspect carefully.
especially right on the tail of the SEC creating it's own Cyber Division.
I dealt with a similar question in this article: Does the STEEM Blue Paper respond to a recent decision by the SEC to consider some Crypto-Currencies Securities?
I see both"Due Diligence"and strategic moves in reaction to decisions by the SEC... but maybe I'm just seeing pictures in the sky.
I see the same things as you. In time, the SEC is regulating more not less, so ICO factories will most likely become somehow regulated. A smart move would be get some legal frameworks in place before anything is released.
I'll be waiting for answers.
I wondered this as well. It seems US users will only be able to use SMT capabilities in limited US specific ways unless they are a big enough company to hire the right lawyers like Kik for instance.
You won't have to worry about the SEC in a couple of years. The US is based on a ponzi scene and will burst eventually and cryptos will only hasten the default. And why should ANYONE especially the government have any say on how you spend or invest YOUR money? Just my two cents worth...
Phase 1 ....Collect underpants....
Phase 2..... ??????
Phase 3..... Profit
The countries where ICOs are completely legal can take full advantage of SMT features right away. It's the countries like the US, China, South Korea, that have to be aware of the legal challenges.
I’m all for SMT’s, but I do question your timing of this. Having read a lot on Steemit, there are many people with unanswered questions, myself included:
How do you plan on dealing with the tsunami of shitcoins er,...shittokens that will naturally be released into the wild when Smart Media Tokens go live?
Will the Steem blockchain be able to technically store and house all the new SMT? What kind of megabytes are we talking about?
Considering the image of ICO’s are currently tarnished and undergoing more and more scrutiny by the SEC, (with ICO’s being shutdown), how do you think the SEC will treat Smart Media Tokens?
further questions from @dana-edwards:
“If they are securities then how much risk is it to use the SMT infrastructure? Considering the cost of launching a security can cost in the tens of thousands in terms of compliance fees and then also the technical cost of setting up the SMT it will not be so simple as merely pushing a button.”
From @nanzo-scoop I shared some similar misgivings, mainly dealing with reputation risk.
Four. Why would a top tier organization like the New York Times associate with a barely known Smart Media Token factory, and one which has no clear guidelines for creation? Why would the NYT use the same service that scam artists and small-time websites use? Have you thought through the risks to their reputations? What's the compelling reason for them?
And one word about timing. If you had released this whitepaper after the UI was stellar, communities were established, and also the official mobile app was completed and being used bug-free, I would be more encouraging. The timing of this doesn't seem ideal, but I see this is your main passion, so that's a positive. Also, the white paper is pretty well constructed, so good job on that.
the New York Times seems a far off target. Many smaller businesses will use it because it is available. Will take time to gain acceptance
Yep, nailed it with these questions.
Hey @stellabelle I responded with the following points, on a separate comment below but I believe it has some merit to your question here "The fives points are solid drivers, I just wanted to add that the contract should have lock-in periods as to safe-guard against flips of price that may occur as a result of ICO's. On the legal side, have you guys sorted out any of the legal jurisdiction technicalities that may arise? I believe its important to show from your end, that you are actively trying to regulate on your end...As a way of protecting customers interest that may participate in these ICO's, I am suggesting that the contract have lock-in periods where funds can then be release base on targets being reach....while this may sound technical I believe that the Proof of Brain concept can work here, as the population who participated in the ICO gives the go ahead to release funds base on the progress of the ICO's, this would help with accounting and would protect yourself from regulatory pressure, as funds are gradually release base on investors consensus and happiness of targets being achieved...well I hope my "two cents" make sense and if you need further clarity please let me know"
Steemit really cannot regulate. But they should allow the various companies who use the SMT technology to have the flexibility to follow regulations in doing their launch. This way if the SEC or others react then at least some of the ICOs can be properly launched and we can reduce our risk as investors by not interacting with the ICOs which are improperly launched.
Some ideas are good, but regulatory risk has to be managed and not by Steemit but at least provide the tools so companies and investors can manage these risks.
But I believe the mechanism that currently exist would help its own regulation, tools like "flag" can become instrumental in this process, its a matter of getting the codes right, probably before flag, thorough comment and must be community base rather than individual, that way we can mitigate any potential fallout. The SEC usual act base on information it receives, I believe the current administration are more concern about lifting regulatory burden rather than imposing, once the necessary legal jurisdiction has been established which can be achieved by partnering with crypto in that space it would really help pushing this SMT-ICO a long way...I believe the mention in the post companies like Aragon in a previous comment to you, did you get the chance to read up on the project
I don't really understand what Aragon is. Is it even a company? What exactly is it?
Aragon is a cryptocurrency that seeks to enact legal jurisdiction for cryptocurrency to operate in...basically they are trying to help put the necessary legal framework necessary for cryptocurrency, that why i suggested it...its token is doing quite well, its one of project that's tackling a very important issue
This comment should be on top.
I agree on the ICO issue with it's sketchy perception by SEC, Media, and public in general with the wave of pump and dumps.
@ned Maybe instead of labeling that function of fundraising as an ICO - since it's not really independent "Coin Offering" for a new platform or chain, the name of that function could be evolved away from that idea that they "might" be a form of securities/investment and towards something more positive along the lines of "crowdfunding" and focus it on how SMT can raise funds for projects and communities here on Steemit and the related caused they support in the "real world". *Like a kickstater or indigogo campaign.
A lot of communities/projects create UIA on Bitshares for that very same reason so I think finding a way to bring that terminology and focus to SMTs will be a positive thing to move that function over internally to Steemit.
It's a thin line with the SEC since over time the token value most likely will increase in time.
Or if it's going to be an ICO then put in the infrastructure to allow for a fully legal crowd funding launch to take place via an SMT. Partially legal or push a button to possibly break the law only confuses the situation. Let each issuer determine their own jurisdiction and announce their jurisdiction to investors. Let issuers put forth terms of service agreements and other legal protection mechanisms which investors can click to sign. Let issuers choose which investors to include or exclude from their ICOs so as to reduce their level of risk exposure.
If an issuer in a country where it's legal to crowdfund is trying to avoid SEC problems then all they have to do is put up a legal defense and an exclusion notice telling US investors not to participate. Just exclude US, South Korean and Chinese investors to reduce your risk if you're doing an ICO.
I think it all is going to be critical that the initial ICOs launched via SMTs ARE NOT scams and ARE successful. In addition, revenue sharing could attract positive attention if it's done right. The question is how do you do it right and make sure it's all legal? I suppose US investors will have to be excluded from a lot of this stuff but this is fine if the ICOs are at least successful and then we can buy the tokens later on.
TL;DR: SMTs that are offered by existing companies for accessing or using existing services use are likely safe from SEC regulation.
The Security Act of 1933, which establishes the definition a security, states:
The term ‘‘security’’ means:
any note, stock, treasury stock, security future, security-based swap, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in any profit-sharing agreement, collateral-trust certificate, preorganization certificate or subscription, transferable share, investment contract, voting-trust certificate, certificate of deposit for a security, fractional undivided interest in oil, gas, or other mineral rights, any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege on any security, certificate of deposit, or group or index of securities (including any interest therein or based on the value thereof), or any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege entered into on a national securities exchange relating to foreign currency, or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as a ‘‘security’’, or any certificate of interest or participation in, temporary or interim certificate for, receipt for, guarantee of, or warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase, any of the foregoing.
The common theme in these definitions is that people purchase a security with the expectation of a return on their investment.
What complicates or, in our case, protects SMTs from SEC regulation is the fact that SMTs, like Steem tokens, has a utility function, meaning it is needed in order to use Steemit or any other application on the Steem blockchain.
Sources:
How to execute an ICO in the United States - @blockmason
SEC Investigative Report
Disclaimer: Not a lawyer.
Gunshots, in your promo, after last night?
#outoftouch
agree ~ and even if last night didn't happen - why do we need to hear gunshots
to make a point