A question for the sellers
For those that have been selling their Steem earnings over the last however long they have been on the platform, I have a question:
Is your life fundamentally better because you sold?
This is an honest question and I hope that people answer honestly.
I wonder this because there have been sellers at all kinds of levels of price and in all kinds of volumes. I understand that some people have life situations that require hand to mouth behavior, but there are also others who have been selling in much larger quantities too. I wonder if the people who sold at the $7.30 high last year are in a recognizably better position still or, the earnings were used on less than life changing items.
I am interested because I held and still hold even though the price is 20x less than the high point. At one point my account was north of 100k dollars in value, now with 40% more Steem, it is significantly less. However, if I had sold, would I have been in a better position? At the high, yes, I would have paid off a chunk of my apartment mortgage and cleared debt. this would have taken economic pressure off my family but, how much better off would I be?
For those that sold at or near the highs, why aren't you buying more Steem now? Shouldn't those who sold have some kind of savings somewhere or, didn't it fundamentally change your position? Sometimes I wonder if it is a bit like those lottery winners who end up in worse positions a few years after winning than where they started.
People have complained about distribution of Steem since its launch and this is a perfect opportunity for those who sold for fiat and held their earnings to change the distribution model. 100 SBD was worth up to 2200 dollars which currently would buy 5500 STEEM. 100 SBD to be a dolphin and have influence.
There could literally be hundreds, if not thousands of new dolphins in the water during these times that would completely change the way the platform operates, completely changes how the content producers people value so much in their words are able to earn. I wonder what people have left of their earnings that is valuable enough to sell for Steem if they chose to and what kinds of items they might be. Would the items sell for a loss or are they stores of value? If you bought gold, you are likely in a pretty good position, even if you held it in cash you are in a good position.
I question this because at the moment I am trying to work out what the hell I can do to gather some fiat together to buy some what I consider, fire sale Steem. I had a job interview that went well today but in the best case scenario, that first pay check is 2 months away which means it is unlikely to be in time.
I remember when I started trading, Steem was around 12 to 15 cents. I did okay for awhile and accumulated some Steem on the daily ups and downs for a month and then sold nearly all (I had on markets - I kept powering up 90%) when price doubled.
April 7th
May 7th
May 9th
June 7th
Yeah, the 1000 Steem or so I sold for 250 dollars went to 2000 dollars in less than a month. Now I am worried that my first paycheck is going to arrive too late. This is my chance to make amends for not understanding markets at all at the time, not recognizing the opportunity to buy 6 cent Steem. What would have happened if at that point I bought a few hundred euros worth? I don't know, it is impossible to say.
I am actually hoping that it keeps dropping away because, I want a chance to buy in heavily and really start have a say on the platform with stake backing it. For all of those who sold and are still complaining about distribution, this is your chance to take the investments you made with your Steem earnings and buy back in and get up to a 20x higher stake in the platform. For those who sold 1000 SBD worth at the high, that would make you an Orca straight up. What did you buy, are you willing to sell it?
This is what I wonder though. I know there are people surviving on Steem but the platform is not even three years old, what did they survive on previously? People complain about a lack of community and those unwilling to distribute, but for those of them who have profited from the platform, why aren't they buying back in now that they have a chance to use their earnings to improve the platform pool distribution? It seems disingenuous to complain about community but be unwilling to invest into the community.
What it sounds like is that the complaint is more about their own current earnings and their inability to finance their lifestyle now but again, 22 dollar SBD and 7 dollar Steem was getting sold. Didn't they use it to improve their position in life, tuck some away for a rainy day, invest into something that held its value? But then, one would have to risk what they already owned, wouldn't they?
Ah, that puts it into another category, that makes them an investor and unfortunately, most people don't hold investor mindsets, most are extremely risk averse and fearful of potential loss. It is easy for people to complain about those who bought in to Steem at low prices but, they did buy in, they did have the resources to do so and, they did have the willingness to risk them at a point where Steem's future was much, much less certain than it is today. People forget that.
I first got into Steem to try to overcome financial hardship but, it wasn't going to happen, my earnings were much, much to low to be of significance. I decided to work hard and keep pushing myself and now could cash everything out and ease my life considerably but, where will I be next year, would my life be fundamentally better? Unlikely. However if I hold and in the off chance Steem does well, my financial conditions change considerably.
It is an upside/downside issue and the upside potential in my view is much higher than the downside, even if it goes to zero. With the amount of value that was sold in Steem from December to January, if they had held and bought in now, the platform would theoretically have dozens more whales, hundreds of orcas and thousands of dolphins. Wouldn't that help with balancing the inflation pool distribution?
But of course, it all depends on what the sellers invested their profits into. I hope their life is fundamentally better now and they have created a cushion for themselves so they no longer have to live hand to mouth but, at least from what many of them write and complain about, they are in the same position as me, and I held. I have nothing to put in, but it seems the past sellers have nothing either which makes me wonder about their future.
I still have my Steem at least and although I might have missed an opportunity to sell it all and buy in as a whale, would I have done that? It seems very few of the sellers have considering there is still 54 million Steem sitting on exchanges which has a value of about 20 million dollars. The current total Steem cap is 115 million. The highest cap was 1.7 billion and that Steem was sold. So, what did people do with the in between?
Better life?
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
Yes, my life is fundamentally better. Sure a lot of Steem I have sold have gone to things that haven't really had a huge impact on my life, some unnecessary clothing and such, but they are things I enjoy. Most of it though has gone to basic living expenses and wonderful travels.
If I hadn't sold anything and stayed in the job I was, putting every spare penny to Steem, there would be the potential of financial freedom in the next 5-10 years, but I'm not sure if I would be here for that. I hated my life and to me, it matters a hell of a lot more to be happier now, than to try and survive a life I hated, to potentially have a better one in the distant future. I don't believe I will regret choosing to life off of Steem, I have gained so much from this.
I think it always depends on the personality as whether it is the right thing to do or not. You also aren't complaining about distribution. At some point, be careful you don't get too low as getting 'back in' can get difficult. I do think there are a lot of opportunities for those who are willing to work though. :)
I really don't have anything to complain about. I know I can earn Steem quite easily and it's useless to complain about the price when I am not doing anything to raise it. I'm not investing so I get what the market gives me. I am trying my best to make sure I save up some Steem for the future, even when I life off of it. Decisions decisions decisions.
Yeah it isn't an easy choice but I have seen the markets move upward incredibly fast before from these kinds of points so I am always worried I will wait too long and miss the boat.. FOMO :D
Anything can happen in a few days, it's exciting and scary. But what always seems to be the case is that it's never just a straight line up, there is always more dips. I have no FOMO because being in crypto in general, is already pretty awesome!
It is pretty awesome :D and I am enjoying it immensely. I have still yet to cash anything as you know but the future possibility of "one day" is enough for me to keep positive and operating. I look very long though.
I know and I think you must be a little mental to not take out anything :D I've only started to look further than two weeks in my life in terms of money, so I'm already proud of myself that I have a bit of cryptos stashed away.
I would say "padding your bra" but I am unsure if you own a bra ;D
Why would we even care about those who came here for the quick grab?
Right now you're merely asking them "why don't you come back now the cost is low so later you can sell off even more?"
Let them be where they are. We know they don't care about anything but a quick buck. The opportunity cost for them is too high if it takes too long.
We don't them need them and their grubby fingers. Nor do those who actually managed to improve their lives need community leaders say that they hope
their lives return to the same shit as before$TEEM becomes even cheaper because it does more damage to those who have zero disposable income than to those few who can actually manage to buy some more. Unless, of course, the real goal is to get lots while we send the people back to be drones for less than living wage, complete with the message that we want to be the nouveau oligarchy.I'm not asking for pity but I'm saying that at the same time as directing anger towards those we don't really want we make others feel inept and incapable, possibly even thinking that the world here is just as rotten as the world on the other side... those who have most want even more.
It is a question out of curiosity. They won't come back as most likely can't. I do hope they have a fundamentally better position in their lives though I wonder how many actually do, hence the question. I'd rather people find ways out of the drone life but suspect most won't as our programming has been well learned.
If those that think distribution is important, can afford to buy and keep their stake somewhat active, welcome. If there are no takers, I hope price keeps dropping until I can gather some cash together and I will take what I can.
To be honest the behavior of those targeted doesn’t make me think their lives improved. At the same time, I’ve seen many of them were also vocal about poor distribution.
Because never enough.
That said... I know that for example Steemhunt does make a massive difference to many in specific nations. And so have lives of students with regular orca/whale votes totally changed as well.
Distribution works. Very well actually. Satisfaction... that’s the question to be asked.
As for the drone life... I can tell you that from having been in online publishing, it’s generally a race to the bottom. A decade ago I have paid $500-600 for cornerstone content to not even stellar authors but that was the rate. And $100-120 for a decent listicle. Nowadays you can get that same content, especially the listicles for anywhere between $5-15, even from First World based authors. Because to many it is a bonus, not something they count against the clock, and to others it is the race to the bottom caused by globalization. Sweatshop work.
As for Steem, the whitepaper even mentions sweatshop equity (or references it).
I think most don't recognise the difference between earning steem or fiat. Sellers evaluate in dollar value because that is what is important to them the entire pool is wortg 350k dollars, not so much considering at the high it was 4 million. The Steem in the pool is the same though.
I am a huge fan of steem and a holder / investor as well. But I have an honest question too.
Those of us who are still here for the long haul, and keep posting/ engaging etc, what is our true goal? Just to keep blogging for the sake of blogging?
So my question is, if steem’s price was sitting at 20$ as we speak, would you sell? Or you would still hold hoping that it will climb even further?
PS. Almost 80% of all distributed steem tokens are vested...
If it was sitting at $20 now, I'd sell. Or at least I'd like to think so. The value of the platform simply isn't anywhere near $3-$4 billion, yet. A valuation like that would be followed by a massive correction. As an investment, Steem is like one of Elon Musk's companies but on steroids. It's got great future potential but very little in the way of profits generated in sight, yet.
I feel like an idiot for not cashing all of my liquid rewards out early this year. I wouldn't have spent that money on anything but investments. That I'm absolutely sure about.
there is ~283m Steem, ~83m are liquid with 20% of total supply, ~53m on exchanges.
Unless completely necessary before, around 20 is my sell point but, how much would I sell is the real question isn't it?
Guaranteed easy come, easy go it seems. No thought of rainy days ,but all for now. it is hard looking back knowing where you were and where you are now. You have grown immensely and in a sense better off.
I am okay and can grow because I don't rely on it to live. If I had to, the prices in Finland would drain it to zero very fast.
I honestly believe that we are in for a huge swing up soon and whoever cashed out is going to be pulling their hair out. What you could of had a year ago will be pocket change. I am more confident than ever and know we are in the right place.
I've been looking at this question for a while, especially at the word "fundamentally". It's a hard question to answer because you can't go back and do the experiment again without selling and judge the different in amount of "better".
I sold quite a lot. Far too much. But it all went into my family, specifically paying off debt. I invested in several hundred fiat dollars, and what I estimate to be not far north of $1000 in labor time coding, and an amount of time working on social capital that I can't easily estimate. In numeric terms it's not clear to me if the cash out value met the overall investment but I think it's close. I can't put a price however on the enjoyment I've had sparing with people in arguments, contributing code that people still use, commenting on the events of the day and so on.
I have to say that my situation has not fundamentally changed. You know me and that the details I provide on my life are extremely scant (I didn't confirm I was a man for over 9 months on the platform 😂), so I can't give you the details, but what I can say is that in financial, sociological and life-structure terms, no fundamental change has occurred.
On the contrary in fact. Paying off some debt has allowed me to continue my life, supporting my family as we trundle along the road, without suffering some hardships which were just around the corner. The wolf has been beaten back from the door for a little longer. But the wolf is still there if I get careless. As a typical person in the world I am bound by many responsibilities, and pulled in many directions at once. I too look to my children a lot as I see you do and I try to guide, lift and shield them.
I do dream of a fundamental shift but it's not the right time. For now I maintain the status quo for us, which is good enough. Making it from one day to the next without excessive pain and suffering is a simple pleasure of its own, as you so starkly are aware I imagine.
I do however wonder if I've made the right choices. It's interesting to contemplate your case, you have held on. I understand it though and you're following through with your plan. The scopes of our plans are quite different I realize. Perhaps that's one of my flaws.
This is why I think I was able to hold because considering my starting point (not good) on Steem, by the time the rush came we had somewhat overcome a lot of the immediacy of financial need. I back my ability to provide quite heavily and for me Steem is an unexpected stream that only through pure chance I found and fell into so, it is all upside potential for the future.
The job I am looking at getting is a way to mitigate a loss of income from my wife in a few months and again, it is a backing of myself that I can operate at provide.
My plans changed from trying to afford baby formula to much more. In many ways, Steem is like that unopened box in the movie Castaway. Some people see it as a bonus to help now, I see it as a future where there are no longer wolves at our heels ever again. In my current world, I don't see any other way I can reach that future through life work alone.
Fundamental change or nothing it seems. Well, if my family ever really needed it and I couldn't provide, I'd liquidate it without a tear. I back myself to always find a way to survive when required though so the chance of that are slim.
Indeed, really we do what we must. I wonder what people who do not have a lot of direct responsibility for other people do with their account, might be interesting to run that poll instead.
I'll have to try and remember to keep coming back to the this post, because I'm also curious as to the responses. I did sell a bit at the higher points as a small payment on the mortgage. It was more to see how easy it was to turn it to fiat and to be able to say that crypto really does work. It probably didn't make much of an impact on our lives, but whatever happens to Steem I can say it was a gain rather than a loss. With my eldest heading for uni next year I'm toying with whether to invest a bit in Steem while it's down or build up a bigger offset on the mortgage. Take a risk or play it safe...
I should have done the same but, ow I am in a holding pattern completely. If it goes to zero, it goes to zero :)
The eternal question.
I recently bought extra Steem at 0.8 USD. Yeah, bad timing. Right now I see BTC possible going to 3K or lower. If that's the case, I think we will be able to see 0.15 USD Steem. I'm not in a hurry to buy now. I might buy some here and there depending on the price movement.
Yeah, I hear the same and I am hoping it is a slow decline to give me a chance to gather some funds.
It's still going down, how long do we wait before pulling the big trigger.
I like many others have powered up significantly in the last week but still can do more. It's a question of when.
I have no idea. Unless something drastic happens, my hands are tied.
I admit to selling off a good chuck of my Steem and bitcoin. and no, my life is not that much better for it. I did not sell because of panic, it was basically free anyway. I needed the extra boost of money. I want to pay down some debt sooner rather then later. I could have waited and sold at a more attractive price but high with interest rates it felt like the right move at the time.
I am back to building up my steem and maaaaaybe Bitcoin. it will be a long hard road but then doesn't bother me. I am grateful that the opportunity is still here.
At the moment, building is easier on platform than when price is high, more so if willing ti buy a little too. Like attracts like, steem attracts steem.