---

“ideas are dangerous commodities.”
– E. C. R. Lorac –

---

"Be The (Ex)Change You Want To See"

~by Duncan Cary Palmer~

So you want to see STEEM go to the Moon?

So do I.

I don't often post in #steemit or #steem. However, today I have an important thought to share. If you agree, please spread it far and wide on every channel you can access, and make this message go viral.

In the midst of discussions and squabbles about the social side of Steemit, its reward structures, and flagging, I'd like to introduce a breath of fresh air.

How can you and I increase the value of Steem?

I believe the value will rise as more and more people begin using STEEM and SBD for every day transactions.

STEEM—To The Moon!
Image courtesy of Andrea Reiman and http://unsplash.com

The Common Man is becoming more aware of cryptocurrency.

You are probably already aware of Bitcoin's recent meteoric rise. Bitcoin has been appearing in many made-for-TV dramas and in the news. Your friends and neighbors are becoming curious.

As governments continue to introduce draconian legislation making traditional banking increasingly difficult, STEEM already makes "banking" easier than ever.

STEEM—To The Moon!
Image courtesy of Sadman Sakib and http://unsplash.com

Consider the amazing properties of STEEM:

• Anyone can have one or more STEEM wallets.
• No installation necessary—steemit.com runs in your browser.
• STEEM and SBD can be transferred—virtually instantaneously—to anyone, anywhere in the world.
• STEEM transactions incur no fees... i.e. STEEM and SBD change hands freely.

You and I know this about STEEM, not because we've read some obscure White Paper, but because we've already experienced STEEM for ourselves.

In short, STEEM is 'da BOMB.

This is a message we should be shouting from the rooftops. It needs to go viral! STEEM is here, now, easy to use, ready to revolutionize the world economy. Tell your family, friends, and neighbors.

STEEM—To The Moon!
Image courtesy of Austin Neill and http://unsplash.com

The elephant in the room that everyone ought to be talking about is this:

We don't really need Coinbase, Bittrex, etc.—particularly now that they are cozying up to the government, collecting all our personal data, and handing it over to those damnable three-letter agencies.

We ourselves, the Steemit community, have the ability right now to become our own exchange(s).

Did you get that? You can be the exchange.

Right now. Today. YOU.

STEEM—To The Moon!
Image courtesy of Paul Carmona and http://unsplash.com

How to make this happen?

Here, for your approval, are five killer ideas that could bring about widespread adoption of STEEM overnight:

1) Be The Exchange

First and foremost, you can be the exchange you want to see in the world. Let people know you're willing to do a local exchange of STEEM and SBD for fiat. Be available to do this in either direction, if at all possible.

Let family, friends, and neighbors know that you are available to buy and sell STEEM cryptocurrency. Set aside some amount of fiat to facilitate things.

Show your people how easy it is for them to have their own Steemit account (see Idea #4 below) and how easy it is to use STEEM for buying and selling things, and for transferring money, instantly, anywhere on the planet.

Hang out a shingle, post a sign, put up some stickers, hand out business cards that say something like this:

---

STEEM and Dollars—💰🔁☁️—X-Changed Here
"Steem - Replacing the Dollar Since 2016"

---

Maybe one of my very clever followers would like to make a cool graphic? Something that says "I Buy and Sell STEEM" with a place to fill in the max amount you can handle?

2) Offer to pay for things in Steem

When visiting your local merchants, before pulling out your purse or wallet, ask "Can I pay in STEEM?"

If they say "Yes," great!

If they say "No, what's that?" reply "I hope you'll accept STEEM soon."

Then, as you pay, give them the short version, hand them your business card, and offer to help onboard them at their earliest convenience.

STEEM—To The Moon!
Image courtesy of Lefty Kasdaglis and http://unsplash.com

3) Offer to sell things for Steem

Are you a merchant? Are you having a yard sale? Do you sell on eBay or Craigslist?

Let people know that you'll accept STEEM as payment.

4) Give Steem Accounts as Gifts

Are you wondering what to give that friend or family member who has everything?

Give them a STEEM account. If you really love them, transfer some STEEM as well.

Did you know you can get a friend onboard, fast, and at a reasonable cost? Use this great service:

https://anon.steem.network/

You can pay with Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), or STEEM. This service is provided by @someguy123 and is very cool. And no, I have no affiliation, get no kick-backs. But, I have tried it and it is awesome.

Please do note that it will check the new username you provide immediately for availability, and will only accept your payment if the name is available. Note: Be sure to enter a username, or you'll just get an error page.

If you want to check availability before trying to sign up,

you can do so with a simple URL check:

https://steemit.com/@account <<< NOTE: Substitute your favorite account name...

You'll get the "Sorry! This page doesn't exist."

Of course you won't be sorry, because you want to create it.

Late breaking news:

Thanks to my friend @mattclarke, I can share another on boarding method with you that I was unaware of until just now:

SteemConnect

5) Developers? How about an escrow service?

If you are a developer reading this, you can facilitate the widespread adoption of STEEM and SBD in several ways.

A (mostly automatic) escrow service would be a fantastic start. By mostly automatic, I mean that STEEM could be both escrowed and released by the originator, provided the recipient actually completes the transaction. Only in the case of a dispute would an arbitrator come into the picture.

Another sorely needed service that would bring about an explosion of STEEM use would be a shopping cart plugin for Wordpress... This would instantly facilitate commerce and micropayments for any and everything.

Postscript...

Are you timid? Timidly misguided? A statist at heart?

Then, as you were. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Go take your banker to lunch.

But, if you're like the rest of humanity, those of us who have suffered sorely at the hands of bankers and governments, Let's take back our power! STEEM to the MOON!

Take action on as many of these five points as you can. Re-Steem this article. Post it on your Facebook and other social media outlets. Let's DO this thing!

STEEM—To The Moon!
Image courtesy of Todd Diemer and http://unsplash.com

---

---

~FIN~

---

For more Steemit articles, please visit our Library Steemit Shelf - Just CLICK the shelf below.

---

LOOK! Check out our amazing product:

Introducing: The SILVERengines proton - Image by @creatr

---

Thanks for your time and attention.
You are why I'm here on Steemit!
I have very eclectic interests and hope, over time, to write about them all.

---

⬇️To Check Out @creatr's World⬇️CLICK Each Image Below⬇️