Pay To Play Versus Stake To Play

With STEEM, quite a bit of talk has centered around the fact that STEEM is free: free to set up an account, free to transact, etc. However, that doesn't mean that the user experience is going to be exactly what the user might want straight out of the chute.

Even before resource credits (RC) became a thing, 15 steem power (SP), most of that temporarily delegated from a Steemit controlled account, wasn't much to work with. The influence one has over allocations from the reward pool is next to nothing, and now thanks to RC, a very new user will need to choose their daily activities wisely, since they are limited in what they can do with the RC available.

Thus, in order to really do a whole lot on STEEM, there is a need to build up RC/SP. That means powering up STEEM in some fashion, be it through the gains made in rewards by posting/curating, won in a contest, received from a thoughtful fellow user, or from STEEM purchasing/exchanging. STEEM Power delegations, and soon, RC delegations, are also options.

So, one could easily feel, quite disappointingly, that STEEM, despite all of its ballyhooed freeness, is actually nothing more than pay-to-play. Instead of being a blockchain for the masses, which includes every iteration of poor along with the middle and the affluent, it becomes only for the haves, or a tad bit more broadly, those who have some access to resources, be it their own, or borrowed.

A Notable Difference

Those behind STEEM do make a distinction between what STEEM is, and pay to play. They call it stake to play or something similar to it. In pondering on the distinction, and whether or not there is one, I've decided it's an important delineation to make, even if one could argue that pay to play and stake to play look pretty similar—you still have to power up STEEM to get much of anywhere.

While that's true, beyond what could be a purchase/exchange of STEEM, or using rewards/winnings to power up rather than liquidating into fiat or some other crypto, the similarities between pay to play and stake to play basically end after the power up takes place.

Stake to play hasn't been a hot bed topic lately, but I find it timely, given we've got Communities in beta, SMTs in phases of testnet—all to prepare for the arrival of the masses—that it re-enter the community consciousness to some degree, and that there be a good look taken as to why stake to play is not pay to play, and why stake to play is actually better.

Much better.

Pay To Play

I think we're all aware of what pay to play is, but I thought I would go over a few characteristics that I feel are key to contrast with stake to play.

• Once you pay, your money now belongs to someone else. It's gone. There's nothing really wrong with that—that's the way commerce works and it's been going on for centuries. Whatever you traded your money for is meant to hold a similar value (though such is always open for debate). So, you now own a little less money, while holding something else, whatever that might be.

• Once you've spent the money, you no longer have any control over it, and in many cases, you don't even get a chance to win or earn it back. Again, nothing really wrong with that, either.

• Whatever you bought might not go up in value. If you've spent the money on some investment, there's a potential upside, of course, but if you bought things like food, or a car, or a vacation package, or a Netflix subscription, there isn't upside built in to any of those transactions. You either eat the food or let it go bad, cars generally depreciate over time (with some exceptions), vacations are taken (some package deals might allow some sort of resale, but most don't), and while you might be able to get away with charging your sibling more than what you pay monthly for the streaming service, that's not likely to happen, either (your sibling is likely mooching off of you if they can't afford their own Netflix subscription).

• Again, unless you spend money to make money, the likelihood of you making more of it decreases the more you spend it. If you're spending it on things, or bills, what have you, it's money out the door—expenses, rather than income.

• There's a spend now for present gratification versus a save or invest for the future mentality being fostered. Pay to play as we define it is usually centered around some form of short, momentary amusement or entertainment. The experience is fleeting, and when it's over, it's over. You can hold onto the memory, but unless there's some ability to win something or purchase something in return, the memory is the only thing you hold onto.

Stake To Play

• A significant and important difference with stake to play is, if you power up your STEEM, it's still yours, it's just not liquid. The fact that it's locked up for 13 weeks may seem inconvenient, but that doesn't change the fact that it's vested in your name. Your stake belongs to you, no one else.

• That new SP can go to work for you now. Depending on how much it is each time, influence in allocations, and the ability to earn from the 15% of inflation set aside for stakeholder earnings might increase incrementally, but it increases, and it builds upon itself. So, you can earn more in curation, and in 'interest' earnings even though you're 'using' your SP to upvote posts.

• The ability to transact increases, too, since RC increases as SP increases. You can do more to earn more, while earning more to do more.

• There are other benefits to staking. Obviously, the more stake you have, the more this will have meaning, but stakeholders can vote for witnesses, and they can vote for projects now through the STEEM Proposal System (SPS). I know there is controversy around both these activities, but as a matter of distinguishing between paying to play and staking to play, voting or having any level of influence over anything is usually not an option with pay to play.

• Of course, it hasn't happened now for well over a year, but the opportunity for the STEEM you have staked to increase in value over time still exists, and is a much better bet to do so than the fast food you bought and decided not to eat. To compare, Bitcoin did not hit the highs it has until the end of 2017, nearly nine years since its first block was produced. STEEM is not Bitcoin, for a host of reasons, both positive and negative, but the point is, only 3.5 years into churning out blocks, STEEM is young, and actually meant for much more than Bitcoin is.

• Powering up STEEM turns the mind to a future time, even if it is only 13 weeks in order to liquify it all. It's a future investment, meant to increase with time, rather than disappear for a moment's worth of gratification, to be added only to memory. Potential benefits, aside from financial, include an increase in patience, the ability to withstand the ups and downs of the daily, weekly and monthly market cycles, and to think more about what what's to become, rather than just what's directly in view.

Stake To Play Is Better

There's no doubt in my mind that it is. The STEEM is yours. You control it. It earns for you, and not only does it earn for you, the ability to earn more increases, too.

It's Okay

All of that said, I know not everyone has money to stake, and in many cases, the earnings received from whatever activity takes place is needed to put food on the table, a roof overhead, and clothes on backs. In other words, for quite a few, staking is earnings neutral at best.

To all those who find themselves in that sort of position, depending on STEEM for life, I can only wish you all the best of fortunes.

Those Who Can Stake

For the rest of us, though, waiting for Communities and SMTs to make their mark on STEEM, and to somehow propel the masses to our door, we need to continually evaluate and reconsider what our own financial situations will permit as far as staking goes.

Because, regardless of how we might explain stake to play to those who are yet to arrive on STEEM, our examples will do the greatest talking, because we're walking the walk.

If others see the benefits of increasing their stake through what we do, and they in turn do the same, doing so will benefit all of us. A high tide raises all boats.

Even though I would have preferred to buy STEEM at lower prices (don't we all), buying STEEM and staking it has been one of the best things I've done. I plan to do more of it soon.

I am not a financial expert, and this is not investment or financial advice. You make your own decisions.

_{Images source—Pixabay}