Steemit Social Media Platform Evolves: SteemFest and Upcoming Steem Hard Fork

The crypto-currency space is full of rapidly evolving technologies. The Steem/Steemit social media platform is no exception to this. Not only does it have the blogging and social media utility, but it has also garnered a passionate and diverse community from all over the world.

Over 200 participants from 31 countries, 35 percent of them female, gathered at SteemFest, which took place in Amsterdam this month. That is a good diversity trend and it seems to indicate that Steemit is inviting to a wide array of people.

Andrew Levine noted:

“SteemFest was probably the best weekend of my life. That isn’t a hyperbole.”

One of the most interesting presentations was made by Roeland Landegent, who goes by the handle @roelandp. He led the initiative to organize SteemFest.

SteemFest
Out of Iceland
Perhaps one of the most impressive community displays that happened, occurred after SteemFest when @sharingeverybite and @shenanigator got stuck in Iceland after their WOW Air flight was canceled. The Steemit community upvoted their post to help them financially and also sent funds directly to their Steemit wallet.

This included a 350 STEEM Backed Dollar donation from Steemit Inc. CEO Ned Scott. Hopefully, everything was resolved, and they made it back safely to the United States.

Steem’s upcoming Hardfork
Cryptocurrencies are a grand experiment, and one of the things that was decided by the Steemit community was that the current Steem economic system wasn’t working as originally intended. Major adjustments are being made to the platform. The inflation rate is currently at 160 percent.

That is all changing with the hard fork that is set to roll out on Nov. 29. The inflation rate is set to go down to 9.5 percent, essentially limiting the supply here on out. There are many other changes that will be taking place as well.

These changes might not make sense if you haven’t thoroughly researched into the Steem/Steemit platform. However, the important thing to note is that the supply of new coins is being reduced drastically. There will be more liquidity in the system since a person who has earned or purchased Steem Power can extract that value quicker than before.

No one can 100 percent predict what effect these new rules will have. Gabriel Scheare, a blogger living in Chile who goes by the handle @piedpiper, stated the following in a recent video blog:

“It’s a great opportunity for the people who got in early and want to cash out and it’s also an opportunity for the people who want to buy in now, because as these people cash out it is likely going to press the price down to more accessible levels.”

The evolution of the Steem/Steemit ecosystem is something to keep an eye on as it is rapidly changing. These changes will alter the reward structure for bloggers, content curators, witnesses, miners and investors.

Only time will tell how the market and the community will react to these upcoming changes.

Disclaimer: The author has a Steemit blog @brianphobos.