To call it magic internet money created out of nowhere is pretty darn close to the truth, actually... but so are all other currencies. For instance, the US Federal Reserve prints America's currency out of thin air and loans it into existence. Likewise, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and steem are created out of nothing and distributed acording to their own unique protocols. For instance, bitcoin is awarded to "miners" that compete in an ongoing math contest. Steemit, on the other hand, awards the newly-created currency to posters that are upvoted by stakeholders of Steemit.