The gravity of an existential threat to the core of crypto

Over the last couple years the core user base of Steem has been developing under the trying conditions of bear market, bidbot depression, EIP implementation, downvote retaliation and all kinds of other events. This core user base is made up of a mix of types and groups of people, with many of them powering up, but nearly all of them remaining active, despite the ups and downs. I believe that this core group are the ones that if Steem survives, will become the foundation that stabilizes the future of the many to come.

If Steem survives.

There is no guarantee that this is going to be the case at all, at least not in the for of Steem that we have know. Yet, the reaction to the events of the sale of Steem Inc, the erratic communication from the Tron team, the actions of the Steem witnesses and the hostile takeover, has been a collection of the core, a tightening of the community.

While still few agree to the terms and conditions and all have had pressure applied, there is one underlying themes that does seem to be near unanimous, after all of the complaining and crying and drama over the four years of Steem's existence - people actually do seem to like it here after all.

The centralization of the chain and in particular, how it was achieved has created an existential threat to the community and therefore, every, individual's Steem life. The threat to Steem has forced people to consider their experience and perhaps the value of their Steem life on the platform, whether that be based on stake, investment in, content creation or opportunity to troll - it appears that this has made people realize that they value Steem more than they perhaps might have thought they did.

Due to this Steem-self-reflection, I think a lot of people have decided that they do actually cherish their Steem possibilities enough that they are taking part in the push to stop it from ending. In some way, it is like the Independence Day, Armageddon, Deep Impact kinds of apocalyptic movies where the world comes together to try and find a solution to whatever has threatened to end them.

The threat to Steem is the centralization of the chain as it threatens the very core concept that nearly all value, the protection of content, the freedom of speech, the ability to have a voice even if that voice is negative. The stake that is in question threatens this because once there is an authority, there is a target to force that authority to bow to various pressures.

For example, if Binance said to the Tron team, we will delist you if you continue to allow the support of economic independence, as we are getting pressured by the governments that this kind of content is undermining. This kind of thing happens on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the like already - which is why many came to Steem in the first place, because it shouldn't happen here.

While the same thing could happen with the Steem witnesses, the chance of it is exponentially smaller as very few will agree, and if they do, they would have the support of the majority of the community that put them into the role of responsibility. The decentralized nature of the governance means that consensus is harder to reach, while in a centralized structure, it is the decision made by an individual. When there are million, hundreds of millions and potentially billions at stake, an individual is far more inclined to protect their own holdings over the ideals of others, given the chance. Which we are seeing now.

Justin Sun's reputation has taken a hit in the last few weeks due to the way he handled Tron and then his approach to the Steem community. While we might be a tiny, little backwater blockchain no one cares about, he has to protect his wealth, which is estimated at 200 million, but I am guessing a lot of it is in crypto, meaning it can fluctuate wildly based on sentiment. How do you feel about his leadership potential and the way he handles the investments of those he is charged with supporting?

"I'm a rich guy, I can do as I please" doesn't exactly fill me with the sense that he is going to help my investment grow, and nor does it speak much toward supporting my human values.

I think that while there was a great deal of potential for him to to not only help Steem, but become a valuable and global social crypto figurehead, his handling of this community affair might have the polar opposite effect. He is already getting distanced by CZ, the head of Binance, and I am sure that he is copping some flack in other areas also, with Vitalik Buterin and John McAfee on Twitter as well as the news across the crypto sites siding mostly with the Steem community.

Remember that this is crypto, and while people value money, they also value autonomy, something the Tron team has chosen to attempt to remove from the Steem community, the largest community of its type in the world.

I have talked about Steem being a Musketeer Coin before:

What many seem not to realise is that Steem is fundamentally different to most of the other coins as it is connected to a community and derives its value from sharing its value. Many people however treat it like a stacking coin that has no value other than what it can be bought and sold for. Many of the first users into the platform were crypto traders with their world view and the supporting habits of that of stackers, where every percentage, every coin counted and for the most part, it was 'All for one', yet many are yet to adjust their behaviour to onboard the other side of that concept, 'One for all.' source

This existential threat that Steem faces has reminded many in the cryptosphere about the reason that crypto is such an important technology, and why the capabilities of decentralization should be protected. As a result, those in the industry are remembering that we are a tiny industry with a lot of potential, and while there is a lot of internal competition, we are all essentially a distributed community of musketeers.

Justin Sun hasn't just threatened Steem, he has threatened all with the ideals of freedom of economy and digital independence, and he has done it through a show of force using wealth and cronyism to get his way. We may lose the battle and in doing so, the independence of the chain, but the independence of the community will remain intact and I hope that the entire world of crypto remembers that in the face of everything that is wrong with the world - the Steem community stood strong.

Steem at this moment is the battle ground for the core ideals of crypto, and the core of the Steem community is standing upon the open field, fighting for their existence.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]