The Truth About Tron
So my prediction about a competent businessman taking over Steemit inc. has come to pass, Justin Sun CEO of Tron has bought ex-chairman's Ned Scott's stake and is now a majority shareholder, happy days, let's start running the company properly and seeing Steemit prosper, right?
Nope, because it appears we are fudding all over place, with lots of bizarre claims being made and a soft fork around the corner, so let's dive in and see what all the fuss is about.
Embracing The FUD
Fear Uncertainty & Doubt is something that comes hand in hand with the crypto market, people who spread it are often called 'fudders' and right now we have an awful lot of people fudding about the takeover by @justinsunsteemit of Tron. In my mind this is madness, Steemit inc. has been run awfully these past four years. It started as a great experiment, but bad management decisions and a complete lack of awareness in regards to how to run a successful platform has seen the Steem price plummet, 70% of employees being sacked, and a complete disregard to the original Steem whitepaper.
Make no mistake people, if Steemit had been run properly, the site would have come out of beta after about 6 months and not 3 years, there would be no Google ads on our posts and the Steem price would be buoyant.
Enter Justin Sun, an entrepreneur who started Tron about a year after Steemit, someone who understands business to the point that he has already secured a deal with Samsung, one of the largest companies on the planet. In addition to this he has attracted 10 million users to the Tron chain.
Think about that for a second, even if 90% of the accounts are inactive (which they aren't), it still dwarfs Steemit's user base. Why? Because he has some kind of clue about how to run a business, beyond just code.
About Business
So Justin is clearly a savvy businessman, you don't get deals with companies like Samsung by acting like @ned and mumbling about SMTs for almost four years without producing anything. Or taking three years to come out of beta and still not have a search function that works properly.
No, Justin is better than Ned because he is creating a thriving ecosytem with millions of users and mega-deal partnerships. Which is why it beggars belief that people are attacking him right now.
Oh no! He's going to destroy Steemit!!
Yeah right, because that's what savvy businessmen do, they buy stuff just so they can make it worth less . . .
Hmm
Somebody who is prepared to pay money, just so that they can have dinner with Warren Bufffet has more business sense in his left pinky toe, than Ned has in his entire body, in fact more than the entire Steemit inc team.
Soft Fork 22.2
As if to highlight this lack of business knowledge, the top Steemit witnesses (who technically are not part of Steemit inc.) have almost unanimously (with a couple of notable exceptions) voted to fork Steem so as to stop Justin accessing the funds which he legally required. Their reasoning behind it goes something like this;
Ned has promised not to touch Steemit's 75 million Steem, and by selling it to Justin he has broken that promise. We don't know what Justin intends to do with this Steem, ergo we are preventing him doing anything with it.
Erm guys, hate to tell you this but Ned's promise means nothing. He did not write that promise down and turn it into a legally binding contract, he simply made an empty promise to you, and just like the rest of his bullshit, you swallowed it. The reason being is because anyone who disagreed with him, was voted out of the top 19 witnesses, so it paid to show him deference.
However, he's gone now and you have a new boss, and I don't think it's wise to piss him off. If he wanted to, he could have you all crushed legally. Steemit inc is a private company, it is not some non-profit hippy dippy love-in. It is a company registered in the United States of America and is therefore subject to her laws.
A Sunny Future
When all is said and done, Justin will set about making Steemit the great platform it deserves to be, he will secure deals for Steem in the same way he has done for Tron. He'll run this place like a proper business, and I'm sure in a year's time this place will be unrecognisable from the shambles it is now.
It might sound a bit harsh to say that Steemit is a shambles, when so many good things have been done. However, I challenge you to try and use the search function on the site, or in the new communities section. A site's search function is just so damn basic, so for it to still not work after almost four years is laughable.
The fact that a site that literally prints money has to resort to Google advertising to raise funds, is also shambolic. The fact that a managing director is appointed and given zero budget is shambolic.
Justin has already shown that he understands how to grow a company beyond the crypto community and add value to millions of lives.
In my mind, the future is bright, the future is Sunny.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? ARE PEOPLE CORRECT TO INSTANTLY MISTRUST JUSTIN, OR ARE THEY SIMPLY DAMAGING STEEMIT AND THE STEEM PRICE?
AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!
Very well said.
I have a feeling that it's all about top witnesses protecting their asses.
Some witnesses are entrenched at the top 20 for many years, maybe they think the chain is their property now.
They didn't like the idea of changing the voting mechanism for witnesses (which would have solved the problem from its root) because most of them know that they're at the top because of 2 or 3 whales voting for them (the idea that they are there because the community supports them is delusional).
My research indicates this is untrue, despite the fact that the present witness election system is faulty. There is ~210M Steem presently, and @justinsunsteemit now owns ~100M of it. Of the total, a significant percentage isn't voting for witnesss, whether from lost keys, bailed users, or whatever. @justinsunsteemit presently holds ~150% of the stake historically available to vote for witnesses.
No election system I can conceive of will make that weight of stake in a DPoS mechanism incapable of instant control of governance of Steem at will.
Thanks!
Wouldn't highering the number of consensus witnesses and applying the example you mentioned before allow the community to get few spots? 100/30 (or lower value with each vote) + limit number of votes / will give us a value than can be easily surpassed by some current whales to push many users to the top. What do you think?
The goal is to make it harder not impossible. We will always be in a situation where one or two people are controlling the top 20 spots, which is already the case now. If we nullify the stake of X the one behind it will again become the new player. But I guess this is a natural thing on a DPOS Blockchain.
Tron didn't mention if they brought the whole package (I mean all the Steem in all the accounts) but I can't see them sending 100 to null just for the sake of it.
See, this is why I like smarter people than me. I never thought of raising the number of consensus witnesses. Since that can be increased without limit, then at some point the stake of the minnows can at least elect a witness. Maybe through some combination of increased number of witnesses, per account limits on numbers of witnesses voted for, and making 1 Steem = 1 witness vote, control of the consensus could be prevented to any single stakeholder.
I think it's unlikely, but I'm not a competent mathematician.
Thanks!
That's idea: limit account voting up to 3-5 witness rather than 30 witnesses.
i am aware of certain users that have more than ten thousand accounts. Each of those accounts will be able to cast witness votes, which will allow that user to get around the limit on witness votes an account can cast. Many, many users have ten or more accounts.
Each Steem needs to only vote once for witness, and not 30 times.
And at least five of them hold ninja mined steem.
Agreed @dr-frankenstein, it is well known that without the @freedom vote you will not get into the top 20.
Cg
It has become a good ol boys club with Top Witnesses hasn't it.
I think every one of the Top Witnesses that was involved with the Soft Fork should set down indefinitely to show that this was actually about preserving steem and not about benefiting themselves financially, which it looks like it was.
Agree.
I think there is some of that, but overall there's a lot of fudding from outside the witness pool as well.
Cg
Investors are not welcome here. All these witnesses together did not invest even 10 percent of what @justinsunsteemit did. Even worse; most of them have origin in ninjamining "business". Is that true @smooth?
I will support @justinsunsteemit with my purchased stake and I'am not the only one.
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Yes, he will also cure cancer and breast feed little children. You know that he uses he's own stake to vote on "representatives" on Tron right? It's one of the most centralized blockchains that run simple gambling apps and that's all. No one is using it so he figured out he's gonna buy a community and just move whole steem on tron. Well - nope.
This is absolute nonsense.
Yes. Even if he didnt say he would token swap Steem and basically dismantle the chain in the end taking over all the exchange listings, Justin is still not a trustworthy figure.
The fact that he made his intentions public off the bat justify completely freezing his stake.
This is something that was supposed to be done years ago.
Look, it is your guys right not caring about your Steem investment, which you obviously dont since you apparently arent even phased by someone taking over the chain with the intention to dismantle it and move it to TRON.
But most of us do.
Witnesses made the call (a very good and very smart call since a soft fork maintains the exchange listings) with stake behind them to protect the chain from ninjamined stake being used in a hostile way.
Nothing else matters.
Just because Ned sucks doesnt mean we let Justin take over the chain. That would be idiotic.
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The thing is, you keep talking about the chain as if it's ours. But only your stake is yours. My stake is mine. And Justin Sun's stake is his. Very simple.
Maybe Ned's stake was ours. It 's debatable, it was just a promise. But he sold it anyway.
I mostly agree with everything you have said. The fact that there are ads up I feel is a responsible way to profit from the huge SEO funnel. Now maybe you feel that the entire ad engine should be internal and not adsense.
But yes, Steemit Inc has been primarily a joke and the witness voting has been a sad story.
STEEM was essentially on life support. Justin coming in and getting Steemit.com and the STEEM blockchain back in the conversation is a positive thing.
That is why I announced
Semi Flaccid Hard Fork 22.3
Posted using Partiko Android
Well at least it's going to get interesting around here again! :)
Cg
True. A lot of people did pop back in when they saw articles about the Justin Sun acquisition so it at least came back into the conversation.
Yes.
So, as always neither the problems nor the solutions are simply resolvable in binary terms. However, that's how people deal with life.
FUD is the basis for science. It's not some evil that destroys all that is good and useful in the universe. If you look at my own post on the matter, you'll see that I also recommend adherence to principle regarding private property as it pertains to the purchase and sale of @ned's assets by @justinsunsteemit. I do not disagree that the SF should be reversed immediately, without reservation. I do not agree that it should be because @justinsunsteemit is the Great Leader we have always needed, and we will thereafter ride off into the sunset happily forever after.
That's just silly. The witnesses secured their power, that @ned had allowed them, temporarily with the SF. @justinsunsteemit has wisely proposed negotiations to resolve the matter, and not litigation. We'll see what comes of it, but we're just along for the ride, except as we vote out the current crop of witnesses, which the majority stake on the platform will not do, because they're dependent on these witnesses for the maintenance of their majority - which @ned allowed them as well, and is no less threatened by @justinsunsteemit than is these witnesses power.
Thanks!
Im personally kinda torn on the matter. Strangely enough, the acquisition took place around the time I joined Steemit, and all I was hoping for was that it wouldn't affect my experience.
So far I have enjoyed using Steemit immensely. It's a way for ke to expand my influence and such as a writer. and the community is really supportive.
I don't know if i could ask for more than that, and I think that's the MAJOR issue that people are dealing with:
How will this affect my experience?
Just the musings of your friendly neighborhood Internet Asshole here!
In crypto everyone loves to hate everyone else's product, I haven't figured out why except maybe age and lack of experience.
I also was excited about the potential of Tron.
However, I do think there is plenty of reason to use caution with Justin, but the panic and hyperbole is amusing.
Of course there are lawsuits anyone in the nearly billionaire group is going to have law suits and lots of press both good and bad.
In addition our community seems to have forgotten many of our apps go mostly unused as well.
You're so right. Sometimes I read stuff from other Steemians and I wonder what drugs they're on! I think Justin will really sort us out, it's going to hurt some feelings, but ultimately it will be better for the platform.
I just hope this softfork doesn't go ahead, it's already affecting the price. :(
Cg
Just huffing some gas today. Don't mind me.
No it isn't.
Unless it is also affecting price of Enjin
XRP
And nearly every other alt coin out there.
capitulation is coming.
Yes. But not because of the softfork. I should have waited a little longer to buy :)
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I’m interested to get your take on things now, after Sun colluded with Chinese exchanges, who used customer funds without consent to hijack governing control, effectively centralizing the chain. I’m not surprised in hindsight, but I had hoped things would be different.
You can see my take here The Great Steem Tron Meltdown Explained
Cg
I don’t really agree with your assessment, but despite being on Steem since 2016, I’ve only recently become an active user so I concede I may be missing something.
However, I would like to address a few of your points.
To begin, I haven’t researched to personally view the comments the witness have been pointing to regarding the ninja-mined Steem so I’m speaking now from the assumption that the belief is Ned earmarked those funds for community development and made numerous statements, as a representative of Steemit, Inc, in writing, in response to community concerns surrounding those funds.
This is where it begins to get murky for me, just some guy who has been trying to keep up. If the blockchain serves the same function in a legal capacity as a notary public, the statements Ned made regarding the purpose of those funds are legally binding. I live in the United States and I’m no lawyer but unless something has changed here, even verbal agreements are contracts. If Ned made promises in regard to those funds on the blockchain they are binding if we’re using U.S. law because they are public statements that anyone can verify.
The fact that this is happening on a global scale, with actors residing in countries outside the U.S. makes it difficult for me to know where to look for precedent, and I believe that’s going to be an issue going forward. So claims of legality or illegality are speculative at this point because we don’t know which laws are going to be invoked, if any. So referring to it as “can only be described as an incredibly stupid move” unjustly discredits what many see as a legitimate move by a governing body to protect the community it represents. Regardless of personal opinions it seems disingenuous to start the discussion from an accusatory position.
Regarding your position on Steem never being decentralized, I don’t think there’s any debate there. One of the points of contention here is the those funds were supposed to be used, in part, to further the decentralization of the chain.
Regarding Justin Sun and his ownership of the stake... that’s the question we need answered. You’re correct it’s completely fair and legsl to sell your own property, but at this point the debate centers on the question was it his to sell?
Another point I’d like to discuss is Justin’s recent history. He praises decentralization but has proven when push comes to shove he’ll assert himself into a position of authority against consensus in order to further his agenda. He did it just a couple of weeks ago on the Tron chain (if my info is correct). Why wouldn’t he do it here? Considering the extended time he set the town hall meeting for, and how quickly he orchestrated the take over once he saw he wasn’t the central authority here on Steem, it begs to question if that wasn’t his intention from the beginning.
I think this is a complicated situation where it’s entirely possible a misunderstanding caused the chaos we’re seeing, but it’s also possible our witnesses saved our chain by acting swiftly to block what was always intended to be a takeover (hostile or otherwise) and cannibalization of the Steem blockchain. These are my thoughts on the matter and whether you agree or not I’m glad we can have this discourse. Thanks for providing a place to start.
Just for consideration, the past 3 or so decades has seen a deterioration of trust between our institutions and the citizenry.
I worked with someone about 15 years ago who lost her 401k (life’s savings), as did her husband, when the company they were about to retire from was bought out and the new owners basically liquidated all employees’ funds and just kept it.
Things haven’t gotten better and I think that can contribute strongly to a situation like what we’re seeing. Everyone’s first response is protect what you’ve got... maybe we haven’t stopped to think if what we have is better than what can be? I’m optimistic. I hope this launches us to new heights.