How Many USD Authors Really Get per Article – Steem Dollars Explained

in #steem8 years ago (edited)

Some articles on Steemit have impressive USD figures shown below them. But what does this amount really mean?

In order to answer this question we need to distinguish between USD and Steem Dollars (also called Steem-Backed Dollars (SBD)). You will only receive Steem Dollars for your article and you can then convert those into USD using an exchange. We will explore how many Steem Dollars Authors receive per article and what value Steem Dollars have.

Amount of Steem Dollars per Article

The figure displayed below each post is not the amount of steem dollars that you will actually receive. The following shows how the shown amount is split.

Pay Your Curation Reward

As @dantheman Dan Larime CTO of Steemit puts it:

The amount displayed is the dollar value of the combined rewards split between curators and the author. Author only gets 50%. Starting July 4th, authors get 75%.

While authors get a 75% guaranteed reward the rest goes to the curators. Curators are users which up-vote your article. However, due to a recent change in the curation reward algorithm authors will also get some of the curation reward. The amount of that an author receives from the curation reward is shown on steemd in the value author_curate_reward.

50:50 - Steem Dollars and Steem Power

After you deducted the curation reward the amount that you will receive is:

  • 50% as Steem Dollars: Steem Dollar are supposed to have a 1:1 exchange rate to the USD. However, the actual exchange rate depends on various factors as outlined in the next section.
  • 50% as Steem Power: Steem Power are like RSUs in the Steem platform and can over time be converted to STEEM

Value of Steem Dollars in USD

If an exchange were offering a Steem Dollar to Dollar conversion than this would likely be near 1 USD. Unfortunately, there exists no exchange for Steem Dollar to USD conversion. As a result the only way to liquidate Steem Dollar at the moment is to convert them to STEEM on the blockchain. STEEM is traded on exchanges and can eventually be converted to USD.

Steem Dollar -> STEEM

You can convert Steem Dollar to STEEM in two ways: Internal Market or BlockChain Conversion.

Internal Market
The internal market is the fairest solution if there is Steem Dollar/USD parity. The advantage is that there in not waiting period of 7 days and you know the price at which you convert. According to @dantheman the internal market has existed since launch and connects to the real blockchain.

Blockchain Conversion
A list of trusted witnesses publishes a feed of price information for STEEM to USD converions multiple times a day. If you want to convert Steem Dollar to STEEM then you will have to wait one week. At the end of this waiting period your Steem Dollars are converted to Steem based upon the average price.

Holding Steem Dollars
Holding Steem Dollars gives interest is advantageuos as it is higher than the USD interest rate. The current interest rate is specified on steemd in the value sbd_interest_rate which is 10% sbd_interest_rate/10.

STEEM -> BitCoin -> USD

The process to convert STEEM to USD is outlined in various articles. The key part in terms of value depreciation is that you will need to pay commission and withdrawal fees to the exchange.

Example Calculation (July 7th and forward)

My first article on Steemit shows the pay-out 114.69$.

Steem Power : Steem Dollar

I receive 86 Steem Dollars (75%) for being author, This splits into 43 Steem Dollars and 43$ worth of Steem Power.

Curation Fee

Steemd shows that my part in curation reward is 24.79%. This is $7.10 worth of Steem Power. The rest goes to the curators.

Steem Power

Steem Power can only be converted to STEEM (and thus USD) over a longer period of time. They are similar to RSUs.

Steem Dollar to Steem Conversion

Option A) Blockchain Conversion Volatility
If I were to convert 43 Steem Dollars to USD then I would have to wait for 7 days according to the average of the price feed.

  • Price rises (Average $0.35 / Final $0.40): I convert my steem to USD at $0.35 while the actual price is $0.40. I would receive about $49.14.
  • Price falls (Average $0.25 / Final $0.20): I convert my steem to USD at $0.25 while the actual price is $0.20. I would receive about $34.40.
  • Price is stagnant then I receive $43.00.

Option B) Internal Market
When trading on the internal market than your conversion depends on the market price. If we assume a price STEEM/Steem Dollar such that it matches a 1:1 Steem Dollar/USD rate, then we will receive $43. Risks are that there is an unfavourable conversion rate or not enough buy support.

Other Costs

We still have to deduct other costs such as commission and transfer costs. For example:

  • Commission for STEEM to BTC conversion (e.g. 0.25%): $0.05 – $0.08
  • Possibly transfer BTC to a different exchange about $0.01 Bitcoin Transaction Fee
  • Commission for BTC to USD conversion (e.g. 0.25%): $0.05 – $0.08
  • USD withdrawal fee (e.g. 0.1%): $0.02 – $0.03

My pay-out of "$114.69" in Steem is:

  • $50.10 worth of Steem Power AND
    • A) Blockchain conversion ($0.10 volatility): ~$34.40 - $49.14 cash OR
    • B) Internal Market (optimal exchange rate): ~$43.00 cash
Sort:  

Starting July 4th, authors get 75%

Thanks @dan I have updated the article to reflect the July 4th change.

Great article! Really valuable insights for writers on steemit!

Thanks, I am glad I could help.

This is the best and most clear article I have read about the pay-out. I sort of got lost with al those other articles saying different things. This clears it al up for me and is spot on. Thanks!

Thanks Maurice,
I also found little information in other articles and the white paper. Most information is from the slack channel thanks to @jabbasteem @arahg @ned and @dan

Nice to have some definite answers about the Steem rewards. Thanks.

Does this mean if I want to hold my earnings to begin to earn interest on them I do nothing or do I need to convert everything to Steem?

Hi @soulsistashakti ,
both your STEEM Power and your Steem Dollar earn interest. Currently Steem Dollar receive 10% interest. This is automatic by just holding them in your wallet, no action required from you.

Thank you very much and thank you for your efforts to help the community better understand Steem :)

Your are welcome :) This is a great community.

Is the interest rate on Steem power and Steem dollars the same?

No, it is not the same. Calculating interest on Steem Power is a bit more difficult - it is certainly more than 10% just because Steem is also inflating quite a bit over time. This article offers a calculator for Steem Power interest: https://steemit.com/steem/@taoteh1221/steam-power-interest-rate-calculator

This is great thank you. So just to be clear on a few of things:

  1. This first payment (coming in just a few hours) will be based on the 50% split.
  2. After the 4th, there will be daily payments. As long as I am creating or curating and recieving votes.
  3. If the price of Steem stays the same over a week, I will receive a 1 for 1 conversion to $ US.

Am I correct on those?

Thanks for the great work.

Thanks @mctiller,
I hope this answers your questions:

  1. As far as I understand yes. To me it seems that the first payment is based upon the 50 : 50 split, while the all following payments 7 July and forward are 75 : 25.
  2. Yes post 7. July you are paid daily for your content and votes.
  3. It depends on the type of conversion:
    • internal market: The price of steem does not matter. Assuming that the internal market is fair than you will be able to trade immediately 1:1 -- Steem Dollars / USD.
    • blockchain conversion: Here you have to wait 7 days and you are right only if the price stays the same you will get a 1:1 conversion.

Thanks. That does help.
Now I just need a tutorial on how to use the internal market. :)

Finally it all makes sense now. Thank you :)

Thanks for info!

Thanks for the helpful article! After reading many articles on this subject, one question remains: Does a curator get paid only in Steem power or will there be an additional payment in Steem dollars when the payment of the post occurs?

Thanks in advance!

The curation reward is only Steem Power.

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