Sort:  

I would say that for that reason SBD shouldn't be accepted as payment for upvotes. When I made my agreement with smooth I made sure it was in STEEM because no matter what the price of STEEM the amount (of steem) I can give with my upvote remains the same. It is much more reliable once you work out the maths, because as long as you're paying the same amount of steem the return (in steem) is the same.

What happens if the situation is reversed? What if SBD drops below $1? Can that happen? What then?

It makes no difference to the amount of steem coming from the upvote. Or SBD based on the value of steem.

Why do we even need the separation?

You mean why pay in STEEM instead of SBD?

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.20
TRX 0.24
JST 0.037
BTC 96305.83
ETH 3315.31
USDT 1.00
SBD 3.19