RE: The Steem-Backed Dollar (SBD): Having your cake and eating it too
Uhhhm . . . . Steemit already has an internal market that converts SBD to Steem. The change is in changing the total amount of each that is tracked and, unless I'm mistaken, both can already be destroyed (SBD is destroyed when promoting, there may be some coding to destroy Steem but it should be major).
Also, I'm sure that a deal can be worked with one of the larger, more reputable exchanges (Kraken is what I'd recommend) to provide an instant SBD <==> dollars <==> STM conversion at the current market rate with Steemit burning the appropriate initial currency as required as capital flow (when anyone else does it, it isn't/doesn't need to be burned).
The point is that we need to stop the never-ending tie between Steem and SBD by allowing for true capital flow between the two -- not the current non-transparent parasitism.
Yeah, they can burn it. Smooth has burned SBD and there are mechanisms in play that do so. But does Steemit actually enter that market? Wouldn't that make Steemit a market maker?
Maybe I'm just missing the boat. Wouldn't be the first time. :)
Some have proposed that Steemit simply burn a percentage of the Steem it's holding in order to decrease its market share as well as total supply, thereby increasing the value of Steem. It may be a great idea. But is Steemit actually in the business of buying/selling SBD/Steem?
No, you are not missing the boat. You are correct in that Steemit is NOT "actually in the business of buying/selling SBD/Steem" -- it is the operation of the blockchain itself that creates and assigns new SBD/Steem.