The gateway drug in

In my last post, I was talking a little about the Crypto-curious who are slowly finding their way into crypto before the bullrun, not at its peak. That is something that I am hoping will bring a more stable pullback and higher floor prices post bull, as there will be more people who will benefit early to hold a little more later.

With each run up and pull back, more and more people start to participate in the process and over time, the volatility of the markets start to decrease. Not only that, with each run up, more have names like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Steem, processes and technology around Blockchain, and concepts such as decentralization and staked voting pushed into awareness. With so many potential hooks flying around, eventually people will let curiosity get the better of them and take a bite.

When it comes to a space like Steem, much of the past onboarding focused nearly solely on the potential to earn aspect and therefore attracted a certain kind of user. This was likely the way it had to be to begin with in order to attract those who will buy, sell and trade it to build, test and tweak the economic framework. However, to mature the ecosystem, it needs to evolve into a more goods and services orientated business.

This has been ongoing for the last couple years on Steem with games, apps and interfaces trying to attract more users, but up until now, much of the market has still been the same base that focuses on earnings. With the next bullrun, I believe that the hype it creates will start bringing in a new kind of user that is much more consumer than investor.

The reason is that while people will have the financial capabilities highlighted in the news and by friends, many will be unwilling to actually buy into the scene, but will still have the curiosity to find out what is going on. I believe that Steem is well positioned to attract the Crypto-curious user, due to its Freemium model that is going to provide a widening experience to the user base without initial outlay.

In time, they will be increasingly coming through non-Steemit gateways that will provide them an account of some sort (full or lite), issue them Resource Credits and help them take their first steps not only onto the Steem blockchain, but into the entire blockchain and crypto industry. Steem is surprisingly one of the lowest bars to cross into the world of decentralized communities and economics.

The thing with raising curiosity is that rather than trying to attract people in, they will seek for the door themselves, like a Google search or following a link in a YouTube video. This means that the individual is buying-in and investing into the process to convince themselves, rather than having to be roped in by others. This is a proactive approach that makes one feel like an explorer of sorts chancing upon a new continent.

And in a way it is.

While the lands of the world have already been discovered and staked, digital real estate doesn't suffer the same fate of physical scarcity. However, what it does and what will drive the economic models of the new internet is, the scarcity of attention. Our attention is valuable and wherever we choose to turn it, will benefit.

Perhaps once people discover the technology, the economy and the philosophy - we as the global demand side of the supply and demand curve will find a new equilibrium that empowers the expansion and well-being of the precious many, rather than the narrow and controlling, few.

The gateway drug in, is the curiosity to find out.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]