What's All the Buzz?

There has been a tumultuous uproar behind the Steem scenes since the announcement that @justinsunsteemit purchased the website and pre-mined stake of Steemit Inc. This stake has always been one of my unspoken concerns regarding STEEM, but until that sale, there hadn't been occasion to give it much thought.

The underhanded collusion between Justin Sun and a few exchanges to stage a coup and centralize administration under a few sock puppets validated that concern. Many people much more knowledgeable than me have decided to do something about this, though. The solution they offer is a hard fork of the STEEM blockchain with a new token name, a new hosting site, and the elimination of the ninja-mined STEEM stake. Read more here.

This may be the best solution. The STEEM witnesses don't need to deprive Sun of his holdings. He bought it, and he can have it. His greedy power grab demonstrated his disdain for the community, but this is the internet. The community is not bound to obey. If you have STEEM, you also have HIVE under the same account credentials. Choose one, the other, or both. If you remember the GOLOS fork, this is a similar process.

I am slightly concerned that the precedent is now set to fork the chain when disputes arise, but that is mitigated by the nature of this dispute. It is no petty squabble. It is a deep philosophical divide between decentralization and control. I joined Steemit because it was a libertarian-leaning cryptocurrency experiment worth supporting despite its flaws. We built a community where people banded together based on common interests, worked together to support quality content, and discourage bad actors. There have been problems, but this is the frontier, and that is to be expected. We adapted, tested, and grew. Justin Sun never understood this. He only saw tokens and power. Let him have his tokens. We can take the power and the value behind them.

I am also concerned about the splintering of the community we built as it splits between platforms. I plan to be active primarily on HIVE, but cross-post here for a time while encouraging others to make the transition. It may be that the STEEM experiment has failed, but that does not mean it is completely wrong. The pre-mined stake was one of its flaws, and after 4 years, it became apparent. We learn, and we move on. Will Justin Sun learn, too, or is it too late to redeem STEEM? We will see. He only has himself to blame should the community leave him behind.