Witness Update for @bacchist - 2017-02-10
APR and Discount
Some witnesses have been electing to update their SBD APR policy on the first of the month. I think that's a great idea, both on an economic basis and as a way to maintain the trust of users. Changes to the interest rate are retroactive from a user's perspective, with regards to unclaimed interest. So it seems best that witnesses make their policy adjustments on a regular and predictable schedule, that impacted users can be aware of and use in their personal decision making.
In line with that approach to APR policy, on February 1, I lowered my interest rate parameter to 3%. The rationale for the reduction is essentially what has been articulated by other witnesses. SBD has been trading very close to $1 consistently, so a high APR is not necessary to support the price at this time. Additionally, since the debt load remains a concern, a more measured growth of the SBD supply is warranted. Long term holding of SBD is not something that we need to encourage at the moment. A modest rate of conversion is ideal at the moment.
Although my discount remains 0%, I would note that in the event of a weak SBD price, I will be inclined to apply a discount to my price feed before raising my APR. The other condition for implementing a discount would be a significant rise in the debt load. I would expect that a discount would be far more effective in that case than lowering the APR further.
Since at this point, I would expect to respond to both of these conditions (weak SBD price or rising debt load) by applying a price feed discount, I believe that 3% will be my "stable" APR. It is unlikely that I will change this value, barring any long term trends that force my hand. Even if that were to occur, I will still only make APR changes on the first of the month, as promised.
Fantasy Sports Development Fund
I announced the Fantasy Sports Development Fund earlier this week. Building out a fantasy sports platform based on the Steem blockchain represents a major avenue for growth as well as potential revenue streams. If you are unfamiliar with the project, please read the announcement for some interesting research about the fantasy sports market. If we can secure a share of the market for fantasy sports, it will be a major step forward for the platform!
If you have any development experience or other skills and insight that you would like to offer, please get in touch with me on the RocketChat!