Cryptocurrency Key: Automated Incomes
Many discuss the topic of what it will take for cryptocurrency to reach mass adoption. While there are many views out there, most of which are valid, there is one area that I think this technology can really help people.
I am one of those people who believes the pace of technology, automation in particular, is such that we are going to see technological unemployment become a problem for tens of millions of people. We simply are in an age where the skills the majority have today are not transferable to what is needed in the near future. Thus, there will be millions "left behind".
At the same time, I believe cryptocurrency offers, at least in part, a solution to this. People are going to have the ability to be rewarded for the actions they take. This will create a form of income for people, as most on Steem already are. The question is whether or not the money provided is enough to live on and that brings in a number of other variables.
Nevertheless, there is a key component to all of this that I believe the masses will embrace.
Many are discussing the technological unemployment situation and what can be done about it. While there are many answers bantered about, one that is being tested on a small scale is Universal Basic Income. This is a solution where the government pays people each month. Andrew Yang decided to call it a "Freedom Dividend", basically a dividend for owning a piece of one's countries prosperity.
My problem with this idea is the fact the government is involved. To me, this is a front for the present system since it is under the thumb of the banking cartel. Hence, it is subject to political whims or, worse, the agenda of the bankers.
But what about cryptocurrency? In this situation, I think we can find a solution that is actually proven over decades.
There is a model that people can follow for wealth building. It is not a great secret and only contains a few basic ideas. One of them is to "earn money while you sleep". Another term for this is passive income.
Business owners know the best way to get wealthy is to be earning money even when not at the business. Unfortunately, for most small business owners, the only difference between being an owner and employee is the owner is the only one who cannot quit. Many end up married to their businesses, thus essentially creating a job where more hours are required.
The passive income model is sought after but rarely achieved. Sure, investments can offer this opportunity but that requires one to have some money to start with. This is where the majority of the population is sunk.
MLMs and other schemes are continually tried with the hopes of riches and outsized checks. Certainly, there are many who do achieve the success they desire using these vehicles. Unfortunately, for most, it is often a dead end pursuit.
Cryptoucurrency is going to offer this to people who otherwise were shut out of it. There is the potential for millions to get involved and start this process.
One of the great fears about automation is the idea income (and wealth) inequality will continue to spread since the automation is going to be owned by the few. This is a valid concern considering how our present system is constructed.
Once again, cryptocurrency offers a new model that can spread this concept to a lot more people.
Consider for a second the upvote economy. Here we see a system where people are rewarded for their upvotes. On Steem, the upvote is based upon the amount of money staked. Hence, when one is rewarded in a particular token, he or she can stake it to improve the value of the upvote.
Here is where automation enters the picture. With auto-upvoters or curation trails, votes are cast automatically, providing an income. One's stake is put to use through the power of the vote. The fact that it is automated means that, each day, income is being earned.
By the same token, delegation can be seen in a similar light. One is able to put his or her stake to work by supporting a project that is believed in. The delegation aids the project since it has a higher upvote, thus creating greater appeal for the application. In turn, the one delegating is usually rewarded in the form of the application's native token.
Another option is to delegate to a "curation bot" such as @tipu. Here, an individual can delegate stake to the bot that goes around upvoting content based upon what people select. There are handpicked "curators" who alert the bot to an article they want upvoted, which ends up earning the bot curation rewards. This is paid out to the ones who delegated.
Of course, there is the inflation adjustment that each person who powers up STEEM receives. Presently, it is somewhere around 2% annually and is given out each second of the day. Since STEEM is constantly paying out more tokens, the inflation adjustment is a way to offset this, somewhat, while providing incentive to people for powering up.
It is interesting to note that a great deal of the move toward DeFi is mirroring some of what was present on Steem for years. This blockchain offered many different ways to grow one's account in an automated manner.
The key, of course, is to have some stake with to start. This is where the ability to get rewarded for activities usually done on social media is so powerful. Since most are not going to buy cryptocurrencies, they need to get it in their hands somehow. Sharing in many different reward pools is an ideal way to accomplish this.
I believe that once the masses start to realize they can accumulate a stake and them automate the income process, cryptocurrency will be a great deal more appealing. One of the keys to the entire economic situation going forward is to get automation in the hands of the masses. The tools for doing that are expanding in cryptocurrency. Fortunately, unlike the present system, they are not reserved for just the few.
Of course, with SMTs on their way, we cannot overlook the simple pressing a button to offer an upvote. Under the Steem model, this act, can generate a form of automated income since those who vote afterwards are rewarding the early voters. It is true that the original vote must be cast, which is not automated, yet the rewards from that point forward are.
Over the next couple years, we are going to see a great deal more of this. Cryptocurrency is programmable money. This means that a stake can be coded to provide certain benefits simply for holding the tokens. This is a concept that is presently untapped. We could see situations where holding a token provides further payouts based upon the access provided by said token.
I guess we see a basic form of this with airdrops. Having a stake in one token provides someone with more that are automatically "dropped" into that individuals wallet.
Ultimately, I believe, this will be a key selling point to cryptocurrency. When people understand and can embrace the idea of automated incomes, it will hold a great deal more appeal to the masses.
They say passive income is the key to financial freedom. If that is the case, let us bring that freedom to the entire planet.
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