The value of internet-based locations has been growing ever since the rise the internet.

Advertising slots in websites are the most well known example of leveraging the value of digital real-estate. Attention is a commodity always in high demand, and the cultures of most civilized countries are leading more and more into nearly obsessive awareness of our digital devices and the digital estates we interact with through them.

In the last decade, we have come to see other forms of exchange of value through digital estates; The player run black-markets of Runescape, WOW, EVE, and Everquest combined were estimated to peak in the tens of millions (USD) during top black-market years. Purely digital goods and services exchanged for out of game Fiat currency.

Over 7 million dollars of Entropia MMORPG property (including a floating city, a club, and a Planet) was sold to investors who wanted to own a small piece of the massive Entropia Universe.

Now, the world is coming to know Steemit, which mixes all three of the business models we discussed previously.

Steem has an inherent value because it drives the attention of Steem users. More SP = More Upvotes = More Exposure. Instead of paying for ads, companies wishing to advertise to Steem will buy Steem and hire bid-bots. Leading us to the second model. Exchanging of digital goods and services through Steem. Bid bots, Resteem-bots, Post Syndication, Upvote Exchanges and other industries are booming and rapidly appreciating in value thanks to the Steem Ecosphere. The value being produced by these service engines yields a significant ROI for those who choose to invest into them. This constantly increases the demand for Steem. Steem creates more Steem and Steem Dollars. Much like the 6 million dollar Planet Calypso from Entropia generates in-game resources that are then resold (for fiat money) to game players… By holding large amounts of Steem merchants can make a lifetime residual income by leveraging their Steem Power in exchange for other forms of cryptocurrency throughout a variety of methods.

While Steem has an inflation rate, it is extremely limited. To function on Steem without reaching a bandwidth limitation, users must acquire a significant amount of Steem Power. The first million or so new accounts are being delegated Steem by founding accounts, however many new users are already experiencing “bandwidth” limitations when it comes to using Steem.

After the early adopters, all new users of Steem will have to buy in (or be given) their initial Steem Power. As Steem grows to become one of the top forms of Social Media, the millions of new users will have to purchase tens to hundreds of millions of Steem to use the platform.

The price of Steem will continue rising in direct correlation to its popularity. As on-boarding systems for minnows are made easier, simpler, and more rewarding; more users will join, as they do our growth rate will increase. As trending articles acquire more views from additional users, advertising companies will start pouring more funds into the Steem Ecosphere. As more attention and funds move in, additional investors will purchase vast quantities of Steem for the purpose of acquiring ROI by delegating power to Steem business services.

Steem will continue very quickly rising in value as it becomes more easy and rewarding for new users to join and to stay.

The only thing that could stop the momentum of this coin is if one of the existing mainstream platforms chooses to adopt a similar currency with a similar inflation model. Due to the nature of Corporations; this is very unlikely. Profits from ad revenue are tremendous; and integrating cryptocurrencies is considered “risky” in mainstream corporate culture.

Any competitors to Steem for up and coming social media cryptocurrency platforms face a massive obstacle; initial funding and user adoption. Steem is several years old, very well funded with a huge and thriving community. It would be nearly impossible for any competitor to catch up.

Cheers Steemians! Here’s to a Social Media Revolution called Steemit.

-Earth Nation