Did @ned Just Give Insight Into Another SMT????

@ned dropped a hint in a post yesterday that certainly caused some speculation.

Secret Steem Advantage?

Bandwidth delegation pools?

Could this be something that is going to be implemented?

A while back one of the developers talked about the way they were changing the bandwidth and how it operated. With the impending introduction of SMTs, the bandwidth allocation is a great focus. Part of the change was giving those who are in charge of their particular SMTs the ability to decide when to conduct some transactions. In other words, they are creating a metric to denote what bandwidth basically "costs" at a given point based upon network activity.

When the network is busy, the cost is high. During down times, the price of bandwidth will drop.

Of course, this is not true buying since it is all based upon how much bandwidth a project has. If there is more activity for that SMT than it has, transactions are delayed until bandwidth "recharges". The option to purchase more bandwidth by buying STEEM is also available.

Now we get this bombshell.

Bandwidth delegation on the STEEM blockchain!!!!

To start, this is a great idea in that it better utilizes the bandwidth on the blockchain. Think about it, outside the rare newbie who upvotes everything in sight, few of us use the bandwidth allocated to us. It is akin to the mindset about the automobile. Most cars sit 22-23 hours a day. The average person uses his or her car a couple hours a day.

Bandwidth is the same. Few of us put the MBs or GBs to use. With the coming SMTs, there will be a lot of call for bandwidth. Why not use what is already here?

The second aspect to this is classical blockchain/token mindset. Everything can be turned into an liquid asset. By providing the opportunity to delegate one's bandwidth, this provides the ability to earn some tokens off it if one chooses. Since the SMT creators will need to acquire the bandwidth via STEEM purchase anyway, having a pool for them to tap into only makes sense.

This is even better for STEEM hodlers since, under this plan, the acquisition of the bandwidth via STEEM is a rental of sorts. The bandwidth is still owned by the Steemian.

So how is one paid?

This is where it gets speculative and interesting. One way, in my mind, is to have one get paid in STEEM. Just like some people pay fees for delegation from certain individuals, one could get a rental fee for the use of the bandwidth.

Another way is to have a SMT designed just for bandwidth. This opens up a host of possibilities. We already saw this idea used by @actifit and @steemhunt. By delegating one's bandwidth, the SMT token is earned each day based upon a specified payout schedule.

An alternative could be to have this pool take in all the "fees" from the SMT users over a specific period, a day or a week, and then split it up to all those who delegated based upon percentage of bandwidth contributed. Hence, the system is self-funding from the revenues.

The last few days seem to have many of us focusing upon Steem Power (MVests) in our discussions. This is another reason why powering up is so important. Only SP can be delegated (unless something is changed in the future). So those hodling STEEM outside of SP will not be able to participate. This provides even more incentive to power up since it increases one's bandwidth.

I am not sure if this is STEEM's secret advantage but it is something I never heard about before. In fact, it is a creative idea. This also exemplifies how we are going to see a ton of ingenuity in the blockchain world over the next decade. Tokens offer unlimited possibilities.

What is the motivation for this? Is it better allocation of the bandwidth on the blockchain? I believe there is a part in that idea. Perhaps this is providing insight into the mindset of the development team and how much traffic they believe will be on here. The last thing anyone needs is for applications to become popular yet their users constantly having to wait to interact because of bandwidth issues.

Also, as @abh12345, @preparedwombat, and myself covered in articles that were posted/linked in the last couple days, STEEM is going to be a rare commodity over the next two decades. This means that it is going to be harder to garner SP which should send the price of STEEM upward. This is good for hodlers of the token but could price new applications off the STEEM blockchain. Look at it this way, how many startups are going to join here if it will cost them $100K in STEEM just to provide enough bandwidth to their users?

The delegation pool alleviates this. Unused bandwidth can be delegated providing SP hodlers a return while offering new SMT projects a way to get what they need in a cost effective manner.

It does appear that there is another revenue stream being developed for all accounts with over the basic 15 SP.

Relax grasshopper, we are just getting started here.

If you found this article interesting, please give it an upvote and resteem.

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