Most users sell their STEEM instead of building SP
image created by @xpilar
Debate: Why Are So Many Users Going Downhill on Steem?
It’s time for some real talk. It feels like many Steemians are choosing the easy route—cash out instead of building Steem Power (SP). But what does that mean for our ecosystem?
The Core Issue
- SP is influence—the more you power up and hold, the more your upvotes matter.
- But many choose to sell their STEEM for immediate gains instead of powering up.
- This leads to a weak ecosystem with fewer active curators, less engagement, and a decline in value sustainability.
Why This Matters
- SP holders, especially dolphins and whales, help keep the platform healthy by rewarding content and maintaining engagement.
- If they power down or disappear, who will vote? Who will support new users or creators?
- A healthy ecosystem requires long-term commitment from its community, not just quick profits.
What the Experts Say
- Steem Power acts like long-term equity—investing in SP grants leverage and compounding benefits over time. It’s “ownership in the network.”
- More SP leads to stronger curation rewards and influence, helping to stabilize the economy and incentivize quality content. (steem.center, CryptoSlate)
Let’s Debate!
- Why do you think so many users choose to cash out quickly instead of powering up?
- What could motivate more Steemians to accumulate SP?
- How can we make Steem Power more appealing and rewarding long-term?
- What happens if more SP holders leave—who will sustain the ecosystem?
Your Voice Matters
Respond below and let’s discuss the future of Steem—not just as a platform, but as a growing, thriving community. If more people make SP a priority over profit, we can all rise together.
Looking forward to your thoughts and ideas!
xpilar.witness
Voting for me:
https://steemit.com/~witnesses type in xpilar.witness and click VOTE
Founder of @wox-helpfund
If you want to know more about @wox-helpfund click here
$PUSS is the first memecoin on Steemit
As @Stef1 explained; for many, it's a source of income, sometimes the only one.
It's like a real ecosystem; some have more money, some less; many see it as an investment, others as an income. There's no way we all have the same vision.
I bought Steem for a while, on a small scale, then at a certain point I needed it and withdrew it all. I've always been very bothered by a certain attitude, years ago, of considering those who withdraw Steem as people who take advantage of it, and I don't want to revisit that controversy.
Another problem with Steem has always been automatic votes. You delegate votes to someone and in exchange, you receive an automatic vote on all your posts. Apparently, some are considered scammers, while others seem legitimate, and even the big whales use them. I've never understood the difference. Which methods are legitimate and which are scammers? Perhaps some clarity on this aspect? Because if the vote is automatic, what's the value of the post?
Even many booming votes or Steem curators seem random, but I understand that because how can you read ALL the posts and evaluate them? It's a huge job, and we're all volunteers here!
For my part, I've seen over the past few years that networking is the key; getting to know each other makes you want to read others' posts and engage in conversation. So I've stuck to just a few communities so I can focus on making a more concrete contribution to others, including through comments, and not get lost in the sea of posts. Even though I occasionally venture out of my area, I post in just one community, and occasionally two others. I think that's also the investment: finding a community that's right for you helps you work harder because you feel accepted and part of something. You don't feel invisible, and the Steems will come too. So if I could say something to newcomers I would tell them to find a community that's right for them.
0.00 SBD,
7.22 STEEM,
7.22 SP
Congratulations! This post has been voted through steemcurator03.
Hello there, you have posted a great quality post and we are happy to support you, stay up with good quality publications
The truth is somewhere in the middle.)) When you delegate ALL or a significant part of your SP, it’s bad, because you disappear as a curator. But the advantage of a small delegation is that your post will have a non-zero payout — maybe small, but not zero. It’s like a basic minimum income — just for the fact that you exist and stay active as an author on the platform.
People cash out because they need the money or think that leaving their money in their wallet will result in them losing it. They don't power up because it takes a month to power down. Let's face it, most people are drawn to platforms like Steemit to make some easy money, when they find out it is not really that easy they give up, but of course cash out whatever they were able to accumulate.
Motivating people to power up is a really difficult task, like I pointed out most people sign up for some easy money and staying on the platform for a long time is not something they have even considered. It is hard to motivate, higher votes will probably mean quicker cash outs.
You can't make SP more appealing, it is what it is, the platform depends on those already here who hold big amounts of Steem or those who join and are willing to invest in Steem.
The eco-system has sustained itself via the big investors and will continue to do so, unless, for some reason these big holders decide their time on Steemit is up. If that happens it means good bye to the platform.
I know this because I have usually cashed out when I get to a certain amount. Right now, what I hold, is the most Steem I have ever had.
0.00 SBD,
6.43 STEEM,
6.43 SP
I agree with you, but SP gives interest + curation rewards.
isn't that a good business
Congratulations! This post has been voted through steemcurator03.
Hello there, you have posted a great quality post and we are happy to support you, stay up with good quality publications
Thank you
It is a topic that we often return to and everyone knows that Steem Power is good for users and for Steemitself, still we see that withdrawing of Steem still widely spread. In my opinion, the main reasons are:
Slowly Steemit became a place where users can earn without much investment at the beginning of the start and that is they can do with their own efforts and investing own time. On Steemit due to support that is provided by the biggest stake holder Steemit Inc and its initiatives like Booming, Steemcurator the active users get rewards for their work. It is actually like a real work, the person work and get rewards. In real life if we work and get paid what we do with it we use this for our daily life: buying food, paying our utilities, paying our bills. The users who have Steemit as their main financial income understandably will be withdrawing Steem for their expenses.
What Steem needs is more people who will invest in Steem just because they will see another place where they can “park” their money and let it grow via getting passing income through delegation or Upvoting. I believe the problem is that this part of Steem and Steemit platform is not widely known, because if people will know that then definitely they will invest into it. The same problem is with Hive, because we see that it is doing the same up and down like Steem.
In order to get more from investment the users need to invest more too, but if Steem value will continuously going down rather then up (it was 0.35 in November and now hardly reaches 0.13) the investors will not come, who wants to loose their money? Nobody.
In conclusion I would say, we need more new people who will buy large amount of Steem and stak it in Steem Power, but if Steem in Ranking on 600+ it is not really look reliable, that is the main reason who we are going slowly downwards.
0.00 SBD,
3.17 STEEM,
3.17 SP
You make some very good points, @stef1. I agree that for many users, Steem is an important part of their daily income, so it’s natural they need to withdraw. At the same time, the lack of new investors and Steem’s low ranking make it harder to attract people who want to stake long-term. We need to think together about how to make Steem more reliable and attractive for both writers and investors.
Curation rewards on accounts with low SP can never be appreciated by most steemians and what they only see is that concerting steem to fiat would profit them never knowing the treasure writing for them when they power up everything and vote
0.00 SBD,
0.00 STEEM,
0.44 SP
That’s very true, @joycemarinduque. Many smaller accounts don’t realize the long-term treasure that comes with powering up and curating. The immediate fiat seems attractive, but the real strength is in building SP — both for themselves and for the whole Steem ecosystem.
0.00 SBD,
0.01 STEEM,
0.01 SP
Indeed! That is why I am building up my account, in the jope that one day I will have more not only to support myself but also the ecosystem.
What could motivate more Steemians to accumulate SP?
More campaigns and incentives, just like your post is doing now, there is need for more sensitization.
0.00 SBD,
0.22 STEEM,
0.22 SP
Good point, @botefarm 👍 Campaigns, education, and consistent reminders are really important. Many users don’t fully understand the benefits of SP, so raising awareness and creating incentives can definitely motivate more people to power up.
to make STEEM POWER more appealing, we need to have more usecase of the STEEM. Currently people are fixated with blogging, so once they get good rewards, what else you can expect them to do?
I see games like Hari Raid, Steem Bingo, Cryptid Hunter and hopefully more to come, are something that give more usecases. At least they won't sell their STEEM immediately.
0.00 SBD,
0.21 STEEM,
0.21 SP
That’s a very good observation, @can.gee. More real use cases for STEEM are definitely needed so people don’t just see it as “blog, earn, sell.” Games like Hari Raid, Steem-Bingo, and others are a step in the right direction. If we can expand on these kinds of projects, it will make powering up and holding STEEM much more attractive.
If some of the top witnesses are ready to sell their STEEM, how can we motivate others to accumulate their SP? The short answer is that they don’t believe in Steem. However, those who do believe in Steem will see it as a long-term investment and accumulate their SP, while many others focus only on daily earnings and cashing out, not treating it as an investment.
0.00 SBD,
0.21 STEEM,
0.21 SP
You make a very strong point, @kafio. If even top witnesses are powering down and selling, it sends the wrong signal to the rest of the community. But remember that witnesses also withdraw steem to cover expenses. Belief in Steem is key — those who see it as a long-term investment will continue to build their SP, while others will sadly treat it only as daily income. We need more examples of people holding and showing confidence in the future of Steem.
There are different options, or rather, there are situations when there are no other options than to sell the coin.
In such a situation, I hope that the bad times will end one day and I will be able to start accumulating :)
I could accumulate Steem while I had income in Hive, but since I had a long war there, which I decided to leave, because the nervous smsiema is more expensive, I had to solve all financial issues with the sale of Steem.
Yes, also, as you can see, I have 80 Steem in my wallet, which is equivalent to, or slightly more than 1000 Puss coins that I owe you, but I have not received your consent to close this issue in this way :)
Yes, I highly appreciated your contest with prizes in Puss Coins, but the video format is not something that I am technically fluent in at the moment, because I am ready to part with the Steem coins the moment you approve this deal.
Blessed day to you!
0.00 SBD,
0.02 STEEM,
0.02 SP
Если посмотреть правде в глаза, то нужно признать, что платформа живёт за счёт её владельца, который вкладывает в неё основные средства. Но это и понятно.
Основной проблемой мотивации я вижу низкий курс нашей монеты.
Инвесторы вкладывают средства в то, что имеет тенденцию к росту, это естественно и оно так работает везде. Вкладываясь во что-то вы хотите получить с этого прибыль/навар.
Авторы, даже те, для кого Steem не является основным источником дохода, тоже не видят перспективы и хотят иметь что-то реальное в руках прямо сейчас.
Ещё один аспект проблемы - внутри системы нет "товара" на который можно потратить Steem. Игры являются одним из верных направлений, но не все готовы играть. Возможно кому-то было бы интересно покупать NFT или что-то ещё на реальном рынке/аукционе внутри платформы. При этом покупки осуществлялись бы только за нашу монету. Тогда бы монеты были нужны тут. Может быть я не прав и это только мои фантазии. К примеру, художники могли бы выставлять свои произведения для их продажи за Steem :)
И конечно, нужна разъяснительная работа с пользователями ппо поводу SP, но не думаю, что это главное. Весь вопрос упирается в мотивацию - зачем и что будет дальше.
Я не перевожу этот текст на английский и оставляю его в оригинале. В последнее время я начал замечать, что ИИ, используемый в программе-переводчике стал добавлять что-то от себя...
Exelente