Crypto Philanthropy On Steroids: How Rich People Can Retain Their Wealth While Saving The World
Tags: STEM, Cryptocurrency, Steemit, Philanthropy, Blockchain

I believe there are a lot of rich people in the world who have a philanthropy streak in them.

I am also aware of the fact that once people become wealthy, most become obsessed with not losing their wealth. There seems to be some innate human greed gene which drives most of us. For some, what I am about to tell you might sound too good to be true. I am in the unique position of having been wealthy and also very poor, so I understand perspectives of both sides. The poor cannot find enough resources even to eat, but the rich don’t want to part with their wealth, so we have a great divide and a lot of problems. Just take a look around. This post is directed towards people who have an extra $100K lying around, but who also feel like they would like to make a difference in the world.

Something very revolutionary is happening with the blockchain world of Planet Steem.

What’s Planet Steem? It is the combined websites that all run on top of the Steem blockchain: steemit.com, busy.org, DTube, DSound, Zappl, DMania, ChainBB, etc. Steem is a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, except Steem has zero transaction fees and achieves nearly instant confirmation times. The market cap of Steem is currently $1.5 billion and the price of one Steem is $6.33.

Within Planet Steem, organizations and communities are forming rapidly, and they are economically rewarding contributors who add value to their missions. There are so many different kinds of communities that it’s hard to keep track of them all. I want to discuss three different communities and their missions. After that, I will explain how you can form your own community and support causes that matter to you.

Lastly, I’ll show you how you can keep your wealth and change the world at the same time. The tools available to you inside of Planet Steem are truly the ones that can revolutionize philanthropy. The most amazing part of this is that you will never have to give your money away in order to make a difference.

Open Source Software Development: @utopian-io

Utopian.io rewards Open Source contributors with STEEM. The Steem blockchain has been fully operational since March of 2016. People can choose which Open Source project they want to contribute to, then they upload their article to Utopian. Utopian recently announced that over 10,000 contributions have been made through their site. Find out how to contribute to Utopian: https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@utopian-io/utopian-rules-update-6

STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, Math: @steemstem

If you’re a STEM professional, enthusiast, writer or student, then consider contributing to this community. Like Utopian, SteemStem rewards contributions with STEEM. When you write an article that relates to STEM, use the tag, ‘steemstem’ so that the moderators can find it. Find out how to contribute to SteemStem: https://steemit.com/steemstem/@steemstem/being-a-member-of-the-steemstem-community

Creative Commons Crypto Art: @slothicorn

If you’re an artist, consider making some crypto art for the commons and get rewarded in STEEM. Slothicorn supports artists who create art that relates to different cryptocurrencies, decentralization, crypto games (like Crypto Kitties), blockchain, and other experimental art that combines money, tech and creativity. Read the rules to learn how to contribute to Slothicorn: https://steemit.com/slothicorn/@stellabelle/rules-for-submitting-a-post-to-slothicorn

As you can see from this small list, all of these projects are aimed at improving some aspect of humanity.

Each project is led by a passionate and driven group of people who are learning how to mix social change with economic incentives. But let me get to the point of explaining how you can retain your wealth and change the world at the same time.

Let’s say you have $100,000 and you really believe in the mission of Black Girls Code: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Girls_Code You would first find a few people who share your values and who are interested in helping with your project. Then you create a Steem account. The standard way is to create an account on steemit.com. Third, you need to fund your new account by buying Steem on the market. There are many ways to do this, but the easiest way is on Steemit, using Blocktrades. There’s a button on the right side that says ‘buy Steem’. After your account is funded, you convert your Steem to Steem Power. This does two things: it makes your upvotes (likes) worth money, and it also puts your money into a cold storage vault. Keeping your money in Steem Power is more secure than keeping it in liquid form because there is a time delay in withdrawing your Steem. Read more about Steem Power in the Wiki: https://www.steem.center/index.php?title=STEEM_Tokens

Now that your account is powered up, you can start looking for content that supports your mission.

When you upvote posts that reflect the values of your community, then you are showing the world that this content is valuable. You also will receive curation rewards so, this is like a return on your investment. This is why Planet Steem is like philanthropy on steroids, because most non-profits rely on donations, but Steem allows you to keep your wealth while you economically support people who reflect your values. The mechanism of distributing Steem to contributors is run by an algorithm and it’s determined by the amount of stake the different accounts have. See this post about Delegated Proof of Stake to understand this better: https://hackernoon.com/explain-delegated-proof-of-stake-like-im-5-888b2a74897d

The next step would be to contact Black Girls Code and let them know about this opportunity and that you are ready to start rewarding their community. A Black Girls Code coding school could even be formed and the girls could post their lesson plans in Steemit. If you decide that you only want to fund this community, but not run it, there’s a very useful tool that allows you to delegate your Steem Power to a different account. Vessel is a software program built by a well-respected developer within Steem. Find details about Vessel, including how to use it here: https://steemit.com/vessel/@jesta/vessel-023-bug-fixes

If you decide to delegate your Steem Power to another person, it allows that person to upvote posts, giving rewards using your Steem Power. You can revoke your delegation at any time, and the funds remain locked up, so there’s no risk of losing your money. And if you decide at any time that you’re no longer interested in the project you started, you can power down your account and cash out your original funds. Keep in mind that amount will be determined by the market price of Steem at the time you decide to cash out. Right now one Steem is worth $6.33, but it is hard to tell whether this price will be higher or lower than it is currently. The truth is, no one knows for sure.

But it’s now possible to change the world without giving away your money.

About the writer:

Stellabelle is the author of Un-Crap Your Life, available on Amazon.