Did Steemit go corporate?
Rumours are swirling: The owners of Steemit have sold it to the Korean mega-corp Samsung.
I first heard this earlier today, then found this post by Kali.
It appears @haejin leaked the news to @Kaliju a month ago, who leaked it to the blockchain 2 days ago, and it was then confirmed by whales like @sircork.
Essentially, Samsung has purchased Steemit (not the Steem blockchain - just the main company and website for interacting with it). Supposedly @clayop arranged the deal, and @Ned (the previous owner) and most of the current staff are leaving.
I have no insider info, and I'm just reporting what I've seen and heard. But it does ring true, and would explain a few things, like:
- Why Ned fired most of the staff late last year.
- Why insiders are buying up STEEM over the past few days.
- Why the FAQ and intro page to Steemit finally just got updated.
- Why Ned a few days ago decided to power down and sell his STEEM.
- Why most of the buy volume is coming from Korea.
Is a major announcement just around the corner?
Or is the rumour false?
If Steemit has been sold to Samsung, what will it mean for the price of STEEM? In what ways will it affect the blockchain? Would Samsung want to develop Steemit, or shelf it? Are they buying Steemit to use it, or to prevent it from becoming competition, like eBay and FaceBook do to rival startups? Will censorship continue to rise on Steemit once its owned by a corporation? Will other front ends (like @Busy) benefit from people seeking another way to connect with the 'chain? Would a buyout be a good thing or bad thing overall for you?
Something's definitely going on. Either way, good luck to everybody!
DRutter
omg that would be crazy as hell... Hopefully it turns out to be a hoax
I cannot imagine why Samsung would ever want to buy Steemit. This is not a good investment. What are they buying? They can't buy the community. They can't buy open-source code.
I'll believe it when I see it.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemitblog/steemit-inc-leadership-changes
Well the Steem source code is not open source and thats the big disadvantage of Steem that it is not so decentralized like everybody thinks.
If Samsung purchased the Steem from Steemit.inc than they also become in control of the source code.
They could develop the Steem Blockchain in that direction that they find most lucrative.
If this moves helps to make Steem more decentralized and open source is thr big question.
Really exciting rumors but lets keep it real the sources of that rumor are not really the most trusted users here on Steem and why should they know more than us?
Are all other witnesses left in the dark and the big drama recently was just show...well I doubt it but I'm open to any surprises that might arrive.
Posted using Partiko Android
It's impossible for Steem to not be open source. Every node runs the code independently.
https://github.com/steemit/steem
Steemit used to be closed off, but that was two years ago.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemitblog/steemit-com-is-now-open-source
So I'm not really sure why you think these things.
Plenty of clones of Steem are around like Golos and Weku. How is that possible without open source code?
The community would not be okay going in such a direction..
Posted using Partiko Android
Because "blockchain," that's why.
lol so true.
and think back in October..
Buying a blockchain company must have been so cheap, with the Steem prices at that point.
And laying off 70% maybe Samsung wanted this knowledge...
Devs and Solution architect for Samsungsds?
If Samsung would buy Steemit inc they would hold like 70 million steems which would shoot up in value the same day the announcement would be made... Like 50x minimum.
Samsung is not so smart to do that... No worries...
The king of speculation has spoken! :D
I know this market quite a bit... If Samsung would do that Steem would be in the spotlight for the whole world... No way that Steem would stay as number 53 or whatever in the ranking... Forget that...
Resteemed to my Steem-centric followers.
Damn. I wanted to buy some cheap steem..
Posted using Partiko Android
LOL yeah it's so gd cheap. We are still rank 40 on the market cap... we were hovering around #27 and #32 for an entire year. Look at Steem on coinmarketcap and zoom out. It still looks like we are flat-lining.
Yeees I know.. but Im a damn poor student :/
On my budget it's a big difference if I buy in at 0.4 or at 0.2
And I think btc didnt hit bottom yet.. Also I dont wanna get caught in any FOMO..
I would make an argument that it makes zero difference, except for the number of coins you receive. It will still cost just as much USD as you put in.
As we were crashing from $8 a lot of people (including myself) thought that 70 or 80 cents would be the absolute minimum baseline. @ned thought this as well, which is why he had to fire 70% of the damn company.
We'll be back up into that range in no time, and you'll realize that 40 cents was still a steal deal. Crypto needs to be looked at on year to year basis, not day to day.
But I want more coins..
Sorry, Im young.
Posted using Partiko Android
Its still cheap yo
Posted using Partiko Android
I'll believe it if and when it is announced. If a corporation like that had already purchased, there would be no need for the current effort already underway at restructuring. Samsung would have no problem putting in a mission, vision, planning team, whatever.
Sorry, to all of you hoping to be rescued by another corporate master: we're on our own. Just like real life!
Posted using Partiko Android
I don't know of anyone pining for a corporate master... do you? Maybe you're reading too much into this.
I think if the rumour is true, it would explain the mad restructuring, powering down, project cancellation, and staff layoffs. Seems to me that's the kind of thing that often happens during buyouts and mergers.
Lastly, remember that when large corporations buy small rival companies, it's not always because they want to develop and nurture them. Corps like eBay and FaceBook have been buying up smaller similar companies for years, for example.
Respectfully, I think it's something that happens all the time, but we rarely admit it to ourselves. I wrote a whole post about it Admittedly, the topic "conspiracy" was an assignment, but I think definition 6 of "inspire" works here.
Of course, I'm only guessing and could be wrong. My point is I don't think it explains the restructuring - why get a bunch of amateurs (all respect to amateurs, I am one) to restructure your new asset when you have a whole corporation at your disposal? You'd restructure after taking control.
I think our willingness to believe the rumor (I get it, it's tempting) comes from a desire to believe someone has got it all handled.
Posted using Partiko Android
I can only answer for myself on that one: there is no temptation in having someone else 'handle it all' for me. I wonder, are less Steemians looking to be centrally ruled than you're assuming?
Thanks for your article link, I liked it. :) If you're interested, I also spoke about conspiracies (secret plots), here.
Steemians less than most people, to be sure!
Posted using Partiko Android
I wasn’t advocating for Samsung buying Steemit, I suppose I should have been clearer about that. In fact, I would likely be opposed for the exact reasons you listed.
Instead, I was just rearticulating that rumors are just that, rumors. We can react appropriately when there is official correspondence confirming or denying those rumors.
Posted using Partiko iOS
I'm in the same boat. Tread lightly with rumors, folks.
Not in any way sad but, a turn of events. Waiting for the best, a major announcement.
Hmm interesting what witnesses think about it? And do they know about it? 🤔
Posted using Partiko Android
I think it's fake news.
Posted using Partiko Android
Interesting but without a real announcement it is just a fact.
Posted using Partiko Android
What
Posted using Partiko Android
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