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I think this is a basic idea that can be extended to decentralized exchanges. I certainly would exchange some steem for cash with somebody who was wanting to get more steem.

If I had a well established reputation here on steemit, I think it would be fairly simple to say "I have x amount of steem I'm willing to sell for this percent premium over current price. Contact me for details."

Then the deal could go through because the people buying steem from me would trust I would send to their account after payment was made because of the reputation I've built on Steemit. Just like you trust an ebay seller with a good reputation to send out the goods after you've made payment.

For those reading through the comments on this topic, here's the post detailing the person-to-person trade that @soundlegion and I made:

Details on how I purchased a Udemy course with money made by blogging on Steemit

You are absolutely right. I think this will begin to happen naturally and organically.

It would, however, be nice to have an "escrow mechanism" that could act as a well-trusted intermediary for "long-distance" exchanges.

Not a bad idea either! Thanks for sharing, @creatr
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