Ok, I see how my discussion of gold was a bit of a digression. I see your point. I came here because it was an effecrive blogging community where the advantage if reward was icing on top. However, once I got involved, the sight of those little numbers going up, however small the amount, became kind of addictive. I suspect a lot of people are similar in that respect. Steemit offers the possibility of owning a piece of the platform as one might own shares in a company, but to what end? Internally, it provides some control, but in that respect it is not unique. You also get a share of the profit, but that profit is the "shares" themselves. I'm catching up here. I suppose if steemit continues to grow, it may gain the weight of a more established cryptocurrency. And it's current model does seem to be driving growth. But you are right... Does that mean people can or will use it like any other currency? Would other people or companies not interested in blogging exchange in steem based currency? It doesn't offer special advantages if you're not a blogger or a speculator... Or a criminal. You have a solid point.