So, the dust is still a bit up in the air about the Tron/Steemit partnership that was announced yesterday with a pretty detail free Medium post.
The most curious idea was the concept that there would be the possibility of a new "STEEM" token based on the Tron blockchain... with airdrops to TRX holders (not TRX to STEEM holders...). This leads to the idea that the "old" (current) STEEM token would be depreciated and this has led to some concern among accounts here.
There are some who are already suggesting that a hard fork of the current STEEM to keep the community here instead of migrating to the TronSTEEM... with the argument that Steemit is NOT STEEM. This is definitely technically possible, and it is true that the purchase was for Steemit and not STEEM.
Now, before we go further... let me point out that I'm writing this to point out a small flaw in this reasoning, one that could be the sinking flaw for hard-forking to keep the current system... such that better minds than mine can start thinking of this weakness and how to address it. I want STEEM to succeed, but it could be that the Steemit/Tron partnership holds a greater tool of leverage over the community than is currently being assumed.
Exchange Listings
We have seen with previous hard forks of the STEEM blockchain (or even new social media startups) that the critical thing is to have exchange listings. Without listings on big, global and trusted exchanges like Binance or Bittrex, or even any number of more local exchanges like Huobi any project is essentially dead in the water. Sure, you can go for a little bit without a major exchange listing... but it is a huge (and possibly unsurmountable) disadvantate.
Without a large marketplace with the liquidity and depth to actually come to a fair price for a token, you are essentially printing Magical Internet Money. This has really killed other projects, as I have seen users saying that they have made 10k tokens of this or that which is MORE than the paltry 3 cents that they would get here... however, the sheer fact was that no-one wanted their 10k tokens... even if the project "estimated" that they were worth about 1000 USD each! No exchange, no price discovery... quite likely worthless!
Which brings me to the point of the potential leverage that Steemit (and now by extension, Tron) has over the community. Who has done the listings on Binance and other exchanges (and thus probably has the power to request a delisting) of STEEM? As far as I understand, it was Steemit.... this is a point where they could "encourage" people to step over to the new TronSTEEM... if STEEM were delisted from the major exchanges, and TronSTEEM replaced it... then the market and price discovery advantage (substantial) moves to the new token.
It is a thing worth thinking about as some talk starts to grow about the potential of splitting into STEEM and TronSTEEM camps... one side has a weapon that has the potential to devestate a rebellious community, and it is worth remembering that listing a token on a large and global exchange is NOT easy!
Anyway, as I said... this is a post to point out something that might have gone un-noticed in the the STEEMIT is NOT STEEM debate... that is correct that the company Steemit is NOT STEEM, however, they have done things for the chain and community (like the global listings) that might not be noticed or appreciated until they are yanked away!
