Hello all,

I have never seen a post on steemit focused towards discussion, but I was hoping it would be possible anyway! I've developed a few questions now that I've been on steemit for a while now and I was hoping this post would answer some of these questions not just for me, but for others who do not know the intricacies of the STEEM blockchain.

Post your own questions in the comments and I will add them to the question section below

Please let me know if any of the information below is incorrect, and I will update it.

STEEM vs. STEEM Dollars vs. STEEM Power

STEEM

STEEM is the currency derived from the STEEM blockchain

STEEM may be bought and sold on exchanges exactly the same as BTC, ETH, DASH, etc...

STEEM Dollars (SBD)

SBD can also be bought and sold just like any other currency

However SBD are not a crypto currency, they are a pegged asset of the STEEM crypto currency.

One STEEM Dollar represents $1 worth of STEEM This means if 1 STEEM = $0.87 , 1 STEEM Dollar = 1.15 STEEM Note that 1.15 STEEM * $0.87 = $1



STEEM Power (SP)

STEEM Power represents your influence Affects how much you earn for curation rewards Determines how much of the reward pool your vote allocates A small amount of interest is accrued with SP but it is not significant

Converting STEEM Power to STEEM is a 13-week process This offers a good way of keeping STEEM in the economy rather than simply selling off when prices fluctuate



Questions

STEEM

STEEM Dollars (SBD)

STEEM Power

If STEEM Power is directly correlated to influence, does this mean I can spend $xxx on STEEM from an exchange, power up all that into STEEM Power, and then become a very powerful user? Does this mean one can simply purchase influence, or is there some mechanism to avoid this?

What is the algorithm that converts STEEM Power to upvote power?

Big thanks to @justtryme90 for shedding light on a lot of these questions