Whaleshares are cross-platform tokens (between Bitshares and STEEM) that could be used to upvote a post from a participating Whale account. This were a ground-breaking concept when @OfficialFuzzy first introduced the idea.

They were earned through participation in events, involvement in Steemit community activities, and given away as prizes for various contests and challenges hosted by other users on Steemit. These tokens, along with its sister token BeyondBits, helped to encourage involvement and interaction on so many levels here on Steemit.

The voting power was generously delegated to the community account to increase the rewarded value of the tokens, but unfortunately the delegation has been taken back yesterday.

The community is working through options at the moment to revitalize the initiative.