Condenser Pull Request Submitted: Added Warning to SBD->STEEM Conversion Page
With the high SBD prices, now is a great chance for users to stock up on discounted STEEM. For every 1 SBD, users are able to currently get $10-12 USD worth of STEEM!
Unfortunately, many users do not understand all of the intricacies of crypto-trading, and lots of users see the "Convert to Steem" option in their wallet, and think this is the way to get STEEM for their SBD. It is a way, but it is not the way. In fact, under the current market conditions - it is probably the worst way!
The "Convert to Steem" option in the user's wallet uses the blockchain conversion process to create new STEEM tokens from the SBD. The process takes 3.5 days, and after the 3.5 days are up - it destroys the SBD tokens and replaces with them with "approximately one USD worth of STEEM per SBD" (based on the median price from the witnesses).
"Approximately 1 USD worth of STEEM" is a LOT less than $10-12 USD worth of STEEM!
USERS SHOULD NOT BE CONVERTING SBD TO STEEM VIA THEIR WALLETS RIGHT NOW!
Everyone will get a lot more STEEM if they trade SBD for STEEM either via the internal market, via BlockTrades, or via an external exchange. Pretty much every other option is better than using the conversion at this point!
I submitted a pull request to the condenser GitHub repository to change the language on the SBD->STEEM conversion page.
Here is what it looks like (before/after):
The change has not been accepted by Steemit yet, but I am hopeful that they will approve the change. I will work with them to make any changes necessary to get it accepted. Hopefully we will see it live on the site soon!
The pull request can be viewed here:
https://github.com/steemit/condenser/pull/2137
Some final reminders for users on how to take best advantage of the current market conditions:
- Do not use the "Convert to Steem" option via your wallet. Use the internal market, BlockTrades, or an external exchange. I hope after reading this post, you understand why.
- Do not use 100% power up for the rewards option. Use 50/50 to get the maximum amount of SBD. If you want SP, you can sell the SBD for STEEM, then power it up. You will get 10x as much!
- Do not transfer any tokens to the Poloniex exchange. Their STEEM and SBD trading has been down for maintenance, so any tokens you send there will get stuck and be untradable.
- Be careful of any goods and services that accept payment in SBD. If you pay 10 SBD for a $10 shirt - you are paying 10x too much!
- If you are comfortable using different trading options (internal market, BlockTrades, external exchanges) - explore around to see where you can get the best price.
Paying SBD to vote bots is not a good idea either.
Yes! I hope they adopt this soon.. Steem is getting a lot of new attention and users, we don't want people to have a shitty experience with conversions off the bat! 👍🏽 Good work!
I am wondering if this can be configurable or read some status that knows status of poloniex and blocktrade and give more meaning message at point in time. I've never use poloniex after reading the various issues people had. For the few times I have used blocktrade, I have no complain
I've never heard of any issues with blocktrades either. Some sort of status check for exchanges like poloniex may be a good idea though. We'd need to find a community dev willing to take it on. Assuming we could get that, the next step would be to check with Steemit and see if they are OK with the idea.
One possibility I suggested yesterday was to have a script that monitors the state of the "known exchanges" steem accounts and alert someone who manages the front ends like steemit if there's no outgoing transfers on one of those account for an hour or so. Then there could just be admin switch they could flip to enable the warning for the exchange without any outgoing transfers. The script could then keep track of the fact that that exchange is probably not functional, and also alert the admins if the exchange does do an outgoing transfer, so that they could re-enable.
Yes, something along the line of what I'm thinking but you got more into the details already. cool.
@timcliff , you might want to add (in red):
Do not use this option when SBD are trading above 1.00 USD!
Good suggestion. I was trying not to provide any specific trading advise, as it can be bad in certain circumstances. More the general warning that they should understand the markets and know what they are doing should cover that (and the many other things they need to be considering as well).
Correct, but when this is add, they will at least do research into this topic!
Unfortunately it is not that simple. Without getting into the complexities of the SBD conversion process, there may be scenarios when you would want to convert SBD->STEEM even if the price is trading above $1. This is not the type of thing an 'average user' is going to want to think about though.
Interesting, where can I read about this scenario, be cause I havnt read about that before!?
It's not written down. You'd have to think through how the conversion process works, and think of ways to end up with more than you started. As it says in the new 'warning' - it is a feature primarly intended for advanced users who understand the dynamics of the price feed and markets.
Damn, I wish I would have read this before I converted my SBD on steemit. Damn. Thanks, resteemed.
Yes yes yes! Get the word out! Thank you for this post! Is there any advantage in using the convert STEEM feature? @ironshield
Yes. The short answer would be if the market was doing the opposite of what it is today. For more advanced users, there are a lot of variables to consider - but it is possible to make a profit under the right conditions.
Opposite like STEEM jumping up to $6 - $7 while SBD remains around $1.00 (like it's supposed to)? Or if SBD drops down significantly below $1.00? @ironshield
If SBD drops down significantly below $1.00, that would probably be a good time to buy and convert.
This is such a great pull request, @timcliff! I've read about several users who have pressed the wrong button and converted their SBD instead of selling it, and lost hundreds of dollars in the process. So this change would absolutely be great to have! I hope Steemit accepts it as soon as possible before anyone else makes the mistake.
I wish I read your post two days back. It might save me from converting steem
We tried to inform minnows here:
https://steemit.com/sbd/@minnowsupport/warning-do-not-use-convert-to-steem-option-for-your-sbd-s
@timcliff this is a great action to help newer people on steemit, and also steemians that are not paying attention to the market as often as other people.
Hope steemit approves this fast, so you are able to help more people faster.
Upvoted, and I am reesteeming this one to help reach a bit of more users.
Regards, @gold84
PS: How do I make you know when I post a new idea for the improvement of steemit? Perhaps, sometimes the idea helps you think on other ideas, that can finally take you to a great solution you have been thinking for sometime.
If you have a well thought out idea that seems to have support, send me a link in Steemit chat. Include some context, so I don’t think you are just spamming me with a link :)
@timcliff thanks for the follow up on this! I am not sure how to use the steemit chat or how to find you there.
By the way, what are your thoughts on adding a link for recent minnow signups or new visitors to learn about how the steem wallet and all the functionalities work, and also what is the steem wallet.
When you are not in crypto you see wallet and you know nothing about it, there is a possibility you actually not trust it either.
Here is the idea developed. Your thoughts are very welcomed, as always; https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@gold84/we-need-a-how-steem-wallet-works-link-for-the-steemit-wallet-page-make-it-easier-for-new-visitors-and-people-just-signup-to
Regards, @gold84
Are you able to put together a guide?
@timcliff sure! I am now preparing a huge guide of 11 Chapters and one of the chapters is about the wallet specifically. Once this is ready I will let you know!
Regards, @gold84
There is a link to Steemit chat in the main menu. Just create an account and message me. My username is timcliff :)