smt-wherein Witness Application: Working Towards Realizing SMT!
We have submitted our witness voting application at https://steemportal.xyz/ . Please check it out there.
Motivation to Become a Steem Witness
Our team has been developing on the Steem Blockchain for 7 years, and the smt-wherein witness node has been running for 5 years. From the very first day we engaged with Steem Blockchain, we have regarded it as the fundamental infrastructure for the convergence of social networking and cryptocurrency.
I have always carried a dream of a decentralized community world, and Steem Blockchain has been the foundation to help me realize that dream—especially with SMTs. Since 2018, when we started building @wherein , we have continued to develop various applications on Steem Blockchain. Some noteworthy applications and tools include:
wherein.io | A Steem Blockchain-based client where we envisioned building an Instagram-like experience on Steem.
Ooops | An LBS application powered by Steem.
steem4wp | A WordPress plugin enabling tens of millions of WordPress-based sites and blogs to connect with Steem Blockchain.
By 2020, it became clear that Steem Blockchain would not be able to deliver SMTs. We concluded that modifying or upgrading Steem Blockchain to introduce smart contracts was unrealistic and overly costly.
Thus, we decided to combine Steem with an EVM-based smart contract layer to indirectly provide Steem with smart contract capabilities, and launched Nutbox . Its implementation workflow is as follows:
We envisioned leveraging Steem’s DPoS mechanism to bootstrap communities on social networks. Community members could delegate their $STEEM POWER to a community in exchange for its native tokens, while the community itself would receive staking rewards. We called this the Initial Staking Offering.
In the diagram above, staking rewards are injected into a $TSTEEM-$TRX liquidity pool, while users who delegate or transfer $STEEM to Nutbox receive the same amount of $TSTEEM. This mechanism is quite similar to Lido’s stETH—it not only connects Steem with smart contract chains but also ties their economic systems together.
Furthermore, users staking $TSTEEM could earn both the community token _ $PNUT and credit—which grants them voting power to participate in community content creation and social interactions on X. The Steem Blockchain stores community-generated content and interaction data from X.
We hope that Steem Blockchain can become the social data availability layer for platforms like X, Instagram, and TikTok. We firmly believe that the integration of social networking and blockchain must begin with Web2 accounts and relationships. Enabling valuable content and interactions from Web2 platforms to be recorded on-chain is the first step, as it effectively brings high-value accounts and social connections into Web3.
From 2022 onwards, we strengthened this vision and developed:
Wormhole3 | A social oracle that uses Steem Blockchain to bring content and interaction data from X, Instagram, and TikTok on-chain.
TagAI | A Proof-of-Brain implementation on the EVM layer, enabling communities to tokenize content and interactions while introducing a bonding curve to bootstrap liquidity for community tokens.
Donut | A platform for individuals to issue social tokens, with their on-chain content enabling value capture and trading for these tokens.
For the past 7 years, we have consistently chosen to build on Steem Blockchain because we believe social and community are the most vital modules of the blockchain world. We also believe in Steem’s Web3 vision and are committed to realizing it.
Plans Ahead
As we anticipated back in 2022, the future will be an era where social communities coordinate capital and resources through tokens and protocols to help network states and sovereign individuals achieve their visions and goals.
We are building this vision through TagAI, Donut, and Nutbox, with Steem Blockchain as the foundation. Not only does Steem serve as the social DA layer for community content and interactions, but its Proof-of-Brain also enables communities to issue assets. Additionally, Steem’s DPoS-based staking economy provides staking rewards that can bootstrap initial liquidity for community tokens, helping them grow stronger.
After 7 years, we are still on this path—together with Steem Blockchain. Steem remains our first choice, and we look forward to realizing our vision with the Steem community: building a world driven by multiple communities!
Appreciation
We sincerely thank our friends on Steem for your continued support. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please feel free to reach out to us. Thank you!
@justyy @maiyude @ety001 @robertyan @rme @pennsif
Please Vote for Us
If you are interested in our work, please support our witness node by voting for us. Thank you!
Go to: https://steemitwallet.com/~witnesses
Select: @smt-wherein