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Decentralized = not dependent on one self proclaimed actor to keep running.
It's necessary to even have a slight chance to be listed on external exchanges.
In PoS/DPoS nobody cares when one node goes down. What will happen to steem engine when they stop operating their bot?

It's necessary to even have a slight chance to be listed on external exchanges.

Is there a general approach how it is done?

Seriously, because for me it's difficult to understand why Steem is not promoted in tourist areas where you could exchange it for "real money".
And why it's not supported by crypto ATMs.

It seems logical:

  • make a photo / story / blog (as you would)
  • post it (here as well)
  • get free coffee!

Why is the task of getting it to exchanges impossible?

  • not enough users
  • technical problems
  • they want something in return

There are crypto ATMs supporting steem (netcoins Canada).
The free coffee for a photo idea doesn't exist because nobody has done it yet. Would be hard to make money off it (cost of the booth+software+coffee vs. expected upvote value), so I doubt it will happen. Maybe as a marketing gag like roelandp's steem whale (although there steem is just an addition to an art project which was happening anyway)

Steem engine tokens will not be listed by exchanges because they are for trading decentralized tokens. That's a technical problem, created by the concept of steem engine. They cannot change that without giving up their business model of letting people pay them instead of the blockchain to create tokens.