Thank you so much for the feedback and vote. I know it is a long shot. I did go through the effort to get users to convince an exchange through support tickets. It generally requires that the user already has an account. I think that users will gravitate to an exchange that already has the currency of interest. If STEEM is the currency of interest and it is not listed on an exchange, it is a challenge to get people to create an account just to fill out a support ticket.

Exchanges seem to be reluctant to list and support STEEM/SBD which perhaps stems from the complexity of the steemit wallet. With bitcoin for example, I can create as many wallets as I want with ease. Steemit is not so easy. The fact that exchanges have to run a node using software that they didn't create further complicates this. They need support. If Steemit Inc won't do it, then someone else needs to take over that job. Why not support the person that gets that job done?

One alternative is to just create a centralized exchange with STEEM as the central trading pair. The exchange can choose to include language options to help alleviate the language barrier issue with Steemit. Instead of people creating a Steemit account with no intention to invest, they would have options and feel comfortable to use STEEM as a currency as they would have options in their language. The exchange will have an advantage over other new start-up exchanges as the STEEM central trading currency is already a highly utilized currency with a large user base. The exchange would generate significant revenue for the owners from fees charged for trading just like other exchanges. Steemit Inc could do this which would create a significant revenue stream to support their operations. Excess revenue could go towards reward pool, funding new projects, or creating hacker bounties. They wouldn't need to rely on other exchanges to keep their STEEM node operational. Ultimately, creating STEEM trading pairs would allow STEEM to compete with other exchange based currencies that are actively working to edge out the trading pair kings such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

What could hurt with this blog? This could very well benefit witnesses. Many people reading this post may not have put much though into voting for witness. I have found that folks are now reading this and getting interested in supporting witnesses. In fact, I read that witness voting is going up despite the user retention issue. I've had plenty of feedback asking for more information about witness voting. Clearly many people would do it if they understood it better. This visibility helps get users thinking about voting and many are actually voting.

Ultimately, users need stake in the voting. They need to know that voting is going to benefit them. Also, witnesses need votes. If the challenge can be accomplished, then that witness gets the votes. If that day comes, a post will be written with instructions how to vote that witness. I have a feeling that there would be more votes than is listed as I have had people ask me to include them anonymously. I'm sure that there are plenty of others that are secretly participating.