I have adjusted my SBD interest rate upwards to 20%.
In my opinion, raising the interest rate is the best way for witnesses to increase the value of SBD, and thereby support a higher market price. I have argued for an higher rate since late July, and I am happy to see many witnesses adopt this strategy lately.
As an aside, my other suggestion from the above post was to decrease the conversion wait period. The leadership recently indicated their intent to lower the wait period from 7 days to 2 days. I agree with @smooth's comments in the thread, that 3 days would be more appropriate. However, I am glad to see this improvement being made.
No price feed discount
I remain firmly opposed to the price feed discount which has been used by the majority of witnesses. I find the underlying argument for the discount to be very weak. Dan stated in his post on strengthening the peg, that the discount was intended to reduce the volatility and risk associated with conversion. However, discounting price feeds has the effect of devaluing Steem itself, which is counterproductive to the goal of a stronger SBD.
Dan correctly stated that "interest rates are only effective when volatility is contained." However, discounted price feeds encourage volatility by producing more Steem than would otherwise be created during conversion. That's more Steem to be dumped on the market, encouraging the downward trajectory that was depressing the SBD price to begin with.
There is no effective way to preserve the peg at $1 in the face of such volatility.
Dan also said that "When Steem Dollars are trading at $0.80 there is an implicit market interest rate of 30% assuming Steem Dollars eventually revert to $1.00 within a year." However, this implicit interest rate is based on faith in the peg which has not been justified by empirical evidence. We should manage SBD and the rest of the economic system as it is and not as we wish it would be.
In my experience, SBD spends a lot of time in the 80-90 cent range. I find a lot of utility in a currency that is stable within such a relatively narrow range (for cryptos). An increased interest rate would provide me with an economic benefit for holding SBD that can be realized without relying on faith that the currency will behave any different than it has in the past.
Account Creation Fee: 42 STEEM
Many witnesses are using 50 STEEM... I think that's very appropriate given the market price of STEEM. However, I think 42 is a much better number.