I Powered Down and took cash. And, wait for it....the World Did Not End. Observations and what I learned from my first Power Down.
I've been on Steemit since the end of June. I have read as much as I can on this project.
But sometimes you need to learn things by doing.
And what I want to learn about is Powering Down. I've seen more questions than answers about Powering Down.
I know that people always say here to Power Up.
That's the mantra--"Power Up!!"
But I need cash now.
Here's what I know. I began the Power Down on Friday July 15. I got my first Steem from a power down, tonight July 22.
When I Powered Down on July 15, I had approximately 3500 Steem Power. I don't know the exact number. I didn't write it down. (Note to self. Do that in the future.)
So today I received 35.897 Steem.
But since I began the Power Down my Steem Power as gone up. I am now sitting at 4245 Steem Power. My Steem Power has gone up 700 in seven days.
By just continuing to post and comment I continued to earn Steem Power. And Steem Power itself earns an interest rate. With my current amount of Steem Power, I am earning about 30-35 Steem Power A DAY by doing nothing.
(And if I get lucky, I could earn 35 Steem Power just on this post alone. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.)
I transfered the Steem to Bittrex and then sold it for Bitcoin and got 0.18266393 of a Bitcoin.
Coinbank says it is worth $119.76
To test out my Steem Power I clicked on a new post under the photography tag. A post that had no money to it. When I clicked on it, the post got 9 cents. (You're welcome. Whoever got that 9 cents. Try not to spend it all in one place.)
So, I still have some voting power, all while depositing $119 into my checking account.
Thoughts about Powering Down
I completely understand that one should probably hold Steem Power and let grow. I understand the compounding interest concept behind this.
But, I can earn more Steem Power by posting, commenting, and upvoting. If I need the money in US cash, then it is beneficial for me to take it.
I know that in the future, if Steemit really does take off, as we all hope it does, I may regret this.
But in many ways I appreciate the $100 NOW. I have no idea if in the future this thing will continue to exist or produce money at this rate. I still feel like I am playing with Monopoly money, and this thing could end at anytime.
At which point cash in the bank is better than, the possibility of being a millionaire that never turns out.
What I know about Powering Down
1. It is take in 104 weekly payments
2. I can stop it at anytime and keep Steem Power
Questions I still have about Powering Down.
1. When I powered down, the transaction said I was powering down a certain number of vests, and that number was equivelent to around 3500, so will I receive the same amount of Steem next week? Or is it based on my new number of 4245?
2. If I stop Powering Down, in say three weeks, or with 101 payments left. And then a month later start up again, do I go back to 104 payments, or does it begin again at 101?
If you happen to know the answers to any of these questions, please leave an answer in the comments.
I will do a follow up post next week with what I learn from the next Power Down.
[Update: When I posted this I got $0.09 for my own upvote. I still have some voting power.]
[Update #2: In less than 24 hours after I posted this earn have already earned back the Steem I Powered Down. I had Powered Down 35 Steem bringing me 4,245 Steem, due to posting, commenting, Upvoting, and just the interest rate in Steem Power I am now at 4,284.
I've gained 39 Steem in Steem Power in less than 24 hours, which is more than what I powered down. I am going to blog about this again next Friday, but this has me very excited about the power of Powering Down.]
Answer 1: next week you will receive the same amount as last week. The newly earned SP are put aside, will not be included in the ongoing power down process.
Anwser 2: When you restart Power Down process (cancel and start again) it will pick up the remaining SP and starts 104 sequential power down. In cli_wallet you can specify how much SP to power down, but on website, you can do only do all the remaining balance.
Thank you for that clarification. I was also wondering how that worked and I think that the way how to Power Down works makes the most sense.
Yes. Thank you for this. This makes Powering Down a very interesting proposition. You can get cash while still generating Steem Power. Thank you for your help.
The interesting effect is you can never drain all your Steem Power. There're always more SP rewarded during the powering down process.
Thank you for that. That info hasn't really been shared. Most of the info about Powering Down is quietly share as "don't do it, Power Up!" Under current prices the amount I've Powered Down will generate $400-$500 a month. You better believe that would make a difference in my life. So I'm trying this out and experimenting.
Or what I could do is Power Down, 7 days later receive my payment. STOP that Power Down and then immediately start a new Power Down at the higher price, thus giving me a weekly raise. That's VERY VERY powerful, and really hasn't been shared, or shared well. Thanks for the info.
I'm not going to power down for a long time. I didn't put any money into this I've only posted to get all of my steem power, so if the project fails I lose nothing. But if it succeeds I win huge.
thanks man , my steem power is nothing compare to u but in the future when i power down i will take screenshot every day
Thanks @mustafaomer I looked at your blog. I would recommend two things to help you earn more.
Much needed post my first power down is 3 days from now so I this helped me be less nervous.
Sweet. Glad I could help.
I noticed that you upvote your comments, all of them? On posts your wrote or everywhere?
Not always, but if the comment is helpful I probably do. But voting benefits me and it benefits you. It's like upvoting your own post. Why wouldn't I do that? You can do that with any comment you make. If you comment on a post, and then upvote your comment, your comment moves higher in the thread, thus getting more notice. Remember we get paid for posting, commenting, and curating (which is voting.)
I'm learning so much just by reading all the comments.
I am very happy you shared this experience. Keep up the good informative posts. they help us all.
Glad to help. To quote Indiana Jones. "I don't know...I'm making this up as I go."
You've done well! Since the first year is the fastest rate of SP increase, I am in for at least a year. But, thanks for sharing. I've wondered how Powering Down actually worked.
This is great practical knowledge that I'm sure plenty of people didn't have yet. I know I didn't!
It looks like that, with the Steem Power interest rate being what it is and with the constant accrual of additional SP from posting and curating, it looks like it's very easy to break even or even continue to profit. Great for long term growth! This is something I'll definitely be sharing with my wife @alladesria. She loves this stuff!
It looks a lot like profit. I got 35 Steem. But I made 700 Steem in the week. Big difference, huge cash taking and with huge profit potential here.
Thx @mctiller.
I was wondering how this part of steemit works. Thanks for sharing this stuff.
Does anybody have a link that describe why sometimes your upvoting makes the payout smaller?
Good article, I will have to check back because I am curious to some of the questions you have as well. Thanks for this!!
Good post! I was curious about some of this stuff myself!
Question though, you've been here a lot longer than I have, so I'm curious to know your thoughts. Did you power down solely because you needed money or are you worried about steem's future?
I did it for two reasons. I could use the extra money. But not that badly, I've done well with Steem Dollars. But I mostly did it to learn.
I have high hopes for Steem's future. But I believe if a huge chunk of your wealth is in one place, that is a bad idea. I can take that cash and put it elsewhere. So this is also an investment decision.
Plus I generate a lot of Steem Power anyway by commenting and upvoting. I've gain more Steem Power than I Powered Down. That seems to be an all-win scenario.