Thanks for jumping in here @aggroed. I'm glad to hear your opinion even though I disagree with it.
It's also not clear to me that having a strong dollar is bad for the system.
STEEM is supposed to be our strong dollar, SBD is by definition supposed to be pegged to the USD. If the value of the USD goes down then SBD should go down with it because that's why it exists, but STEEM will get stronger which is what we want.
Like it says in the blue paper:
[SBDs] help bridge the gap between more traditional fiat money systems which mainstream users are used to, and the cryptocurrency tokens which they are awarded through the platform
If they are no longer pegged to the USD then they are no different than any other crypto token and they no longer function as a very important user-friendly feature of the Steem platform.
If we're not going to keep SBD pegged to USD then we should just get rid of them altogether as at that point they're redundant and just cause confusion.
Another way of thinking is that with price increase in SBD, almost all users are taking 50/50 profit and therefore, blockchain is producing more SBD. Since large number of users are converting SBD to STEEM due to astronomical ratio. Therefore, STEEMs supply is consumed and STEEM's price should rise due to demand. However, people are earning 4-6 times due to how payments are made. In theory, it should help STEEM's price, but SBD holders/traders are at risk in the long term. I wonder how long it can go on. Who are the people/traders who is buying SBD or hodling it? Is there a group or group of people intentionally pumped the SBD so that they can earn 4-7X times, I am not sure.
SBDs have also been referred to as half-pegged. Some don't see an issue in the value going above 1 USD. It still means the authors get at least the value in USD, no problem if it is more. The opposite is not true and there the witnesses should intervene.
Where are they referred to as half-pegged?
https://steemit.com/trading/@cryptographic/what-is-going-on-with-sbd
It's more complex than it seems at first sight. Do we really want to peg to the dollar? What if the dollar gets to hyperinflation? And how far can you try to correct to the negative side? We can't 'print' SBDs, it's a fixed supply. Pegged cryptos are a strange thing.
It seems pretty complex to me so it must be even more complex!
Whether we want it to be pegged to the dollar is not a question for current management practices but a question for revising the stated purpose of the SBD instrument. We should be doing everything to keep it pegged or change things so the peg isn't even a goal.
If it's not pegged then we don't need it and the blockchain should be changed accordingly.
You're completely right here, why aren't people getting this? Is it just being opportunistic and enjoying the price buoyancy?
In my opinion either it's pegged or we get rid of it completely, as you say here.