![positivity.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmamiGN7381ejEphZLTYZpdjHwwUm9yUZ8Tjn6mtTB4D9d/positivity.png)

Prologue

It seems that cryptocurrencies are currently taking a beating, *again*. Especially STEEM is having a rough time. From it's previous record of nearly 10 USD down to 1 USD. That's a lot of red .. Now, don't get me wrong. When I joined Steemit a year ago, it was completely normal to see STEEM in the region of 1 USD. But comparing those two numbers, our beloved cryptocurrency has obviously lost ~~value~~ FIAT-value.

High Price = High Activity

And this is also displayed in the activity on STEEM. Without using any data (which would confirm my theory) - how do I come to this conclusion? Well, as you might know - I've created a promotion service called Smartsteem.com and whenever the price of STEEM is going down - the amount of promotion bought is going down as well.

What's the reason?

Buying promotion now, while the Internal STEEM price is lower than the external, can result in short-term negative profit. The internal STEEM price is made of a 3-day average, which witnesses are publishing multiple times per day. So a bought 1$ vote could be 0.8$ tomorrow or even 1.2$ - depending how the price of STEEM goes.

Thinking Long-Term

However, part of this post's title is `Thinking Long-Term` and this is a key mentality, which you should follow **right now**, while the prices are down. There is the famous quote > The time to buy is when there's blood in the streets Which pretty much means: stocks, assets, cryptocurrencies & co. should be bought, while everyone else is panic-selling. And converted to STEEM it sounds something like this: > Be active on STEEM when nobody else is Everybody wanted to be a part of STEEM when the price was over 8 USD, but fast-forward to today: many, many users have left STEEM and/or are paralysed by the low prices. And that's a situation, you ~~can~~ **should** take advantage of.

Advantages of a low STEEM price

If you create content, develop applications for STEEM or do something else to earn STEEM right now, then you will have a big advantage over those, who are currently paralysed by the low prices. Let me give you a few examples: ---

A lower STEEM price will earn you more STEEM

When you create a post on STEEM, the rewards you are getting paid out as STEEM & STEEMPOWER are based on the USD value of STEEM. For this example, let's imagine you've chosen the 50% SBD /50% SP rewards option and your post has a payout of 5$. Additionally, the current payout distribution while writing this post is at: > SBD: 11% | STEEM: 39% | SP: 50%

Examples

Rewards - STEEM: 1 USD:

- SBD: 0.55 SBD - STEEM: 1.95 STEEM - SP: 2.5 SP > 0.55 SBD & 4.45 STEEM

Rewards - STEEM: 5 USD:

- SBD: 0.55 SBD - STEEM: 0.39 STEEM - SP: 0.5 SP > 0.55 SBD & 0.89 STEEM

Outcome

As you can see, the higher the STEEM price is, the less STEEM you're getting with your rewards. Now, this calculation isn't completely accurate as we haven't taken into account that the payout will be higher the higher the STEEM price is. However, it clearly shows that **now** is the time to accumulate STEEM, so that you're ready when the price rises again. ---

Less active users = more rewards for you

STEEM is utilising something called a *Rewards Pool* where all rewards are shared between active users based on rewards shares (rshares). Your vote has a value, which is internally called *rshares*, based on the the amount of Steempower (VESTS) you hold. So when you upvote as post, you're adding rshares to it. And when you downvote it, you remove rshares. And bringing this logic to the *Rewards Pool*: Let's say there is 10,000 STEEM in the rewards pool and only 20% of all possible rewards_shares have been used, then the 10,000 STEEM will be divided between the rewards_shares in the same way as if only 5% of all possible reward_shares have been used. Which means: > Less active users = higher rewards

Epilogue

I hope you can understand my reasoning now, why a low STEEM price can actually be very beneficial, as long as you know how to take advantage of it. But there is another reason, why I believe that **thinking longterm is so important**:

The Power of Positivity

Let's face it: seeing prices drop isn't motivating. On the contrary: it's extremely de-motivating! But if you want to be succesful on Steem or on anything in life, then you must not surrender to those fears. Don't just look at things today, look forward, expand the possibilities in your mind. Where do you see yourself one year from now? Two? And then, when you've grasped that vision, you will understand what I mean, when I'm telling you this is an opportunity. **It's time to think long-term!** ---

Making Steem Greater

![signature_therealwolf_2.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaUTTbMyvZQPsNouySt7fop85Sh49LJUVuRHLwfniVZQw/signature_therealwolf_2.png) **Projects developed by @therealwolf for Steem** ---

Smartsteem.com	Steem Chat-Wallet
Witness Essentials	Utopian.io Signup

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Do you share my vision for Steem? Let's work together to achieve it!

--- You can vote for me at https://steemit.com/~witnesses. Or you can simply use steemconnect to vote for me or to set me as a proxy. A big and sincere **Thank you** to all of those who support my efforts!