Many crypto projects are little more than a speculators playground. Pump and Dumps on little more than a blockchain, whitepaper and a dream. On STEEM, however, things are being built. The Blockchain is home to games, with @steemmonsters just hitting its highest ever daily usage. _{website link} Other games are growing and developing also. Tribes are forming, based around a common interest and community token. If you are interested in sports - there is a place to talk sport and earn a community token, which can be staked to increase your influence and share of the reward pool you can allocate. _{Sportstalk website link} Similarly, tribes based on other interests are also emerging.

_{Image Source: Pixabay}

Think of STEEM as the trunk of the tree, with all these different tribes being the branches reaching out from the trunk. All part of the one tree, but spreading out in different directions.

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The interesting part to all this, is many of these are catering to investors, using a novel approach developed by the @steem-eng team. They are creating Miner tokens. Investors can purchase these tokens, and they then receive a portion of the reward pool for the related token. These rewards are in a fairly liquid token that can be exchanged for STEEM, or staked if you wish. _{Steem Engine website}

This is a fundamental change for the STEEM blockchain. Up until now, "Proof-of-brain" was the order of the day. To earn on STEEM you had to write posts, and/or hold powered up STEEM (locked for 13 weeks) and vote on posts to earn curation rewards (That then had to be powered down for the liquid coin). Even this process is changing, with an upcoming hard-fork improving the return for STEEM Power holders from voting on posts (from 25% to 50% of the vote value).

Mining

The mining tokens are passive, and limited in number. Once you buy them and stake, all you have to do is log on to the Steem Engine website and claim your rewards. No reading, posting, curating or building a following required. Once the limited number are sold, no more can be created, meaning the supply v demand equation will push prices higher. Choose which community you want to invest in, buy their miner token (this provides the community with funds to develop and build their service) and collect a regular return, without having to ever even visit the community website if you don't want to. An interesting one to watch in particular is the community set up by notable Steemian @neoxian. It is set up to pay 50 % of the reward pool to the mining token, making it hugely attractive to investors. _{Neoxian city website}

_{Image Source: Pixabay}

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Delegate STEEM Power (SP)

Another way to invest, and generate income from these new communities (also called tribes) is to power up STEEM. The STEEM Power can be delegated to a voting service run by the community. Members of the community can send their tokens in for STEEM up-votes. The tokens the bot receives are then payed out daily to the SP delegators. This process is even more passive, the tokens are payed out automatically with no action from the investor required.

On STEEM, a tribe called STEEM-LEO has formed. This is an investment focused tribe, and is very rapidly establishing itself as a great place for investment related content. It also is developing very intelligent ways for investors to gain multiple revenue streams, and enhance the value of the community token. Their voting bot includes a token burn mechanism. As most investors would know, burning tokens (the crypto equivalent of a company buying back its own shares and then cancelling them) is good for the value of the token. In a system that relies on token inflation, decent token burns will help maintain and improve the value of the token. _{STEEM LEO Website}

Another Delegation option.

Another way to invest in one of the most used blockchains is by Leasing out your SP. A service set up called Dlease offers up a return of up to 20% per annum. STEEM Power is attractive for a number of uses on the STEEM blockchain, and those needing it will pay for delegations from investors. SP can also be delegated to vote buying services (bid bots) for an attractive ROI. This can be controversial on the STEEM network, which is why it is so exciting that miners and other investment options have come along. The attractive thing about SP delegations is that the STEEM is still yours, and cannot be taken unlike traditional loans. Regardless of where your SP goes, it also earns a small return from inflation, so even if it is delegated or not being used, it is still growing. Of course earning a decent ROI is a better option.

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Security Tokens.

One of the most exciting developments starting to appear via the STEEM Engine exchange is the emergence of STO's and Security Tokens. One of the first to appear is called SPINVEST. @spinvest is a fund being set up with the aim of providing a new investment option for STEEM's community. Aiming to sell 1 million SPI tokens at 1 STEEM each, the fund has a long term outlook. The goal is to power up the STEEM it recieves from token sales. This SP will then be delegated for income via the previously mentioned @dlease. The income recieved will then be invested in off-chain assets, such as other crypto's, precious metals and even traditional company stocks. As the asset base of the fund grows, it will turn in my opinion into a pretty awesome compounding machine, growing long term and increasing the value of the token over time. The mid-to-long term outlook of the project is appealing, as distinct from most of the get rich quick schemes and scams that are prevalent in crypto. This project is definitely one to watch, and just a taste of the STO options that will come to the Steem Engine exchange.

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The current price of STEEM.

No article about investing in STEEM and the related eco-system would be complete without a comment on the current STEEM price. It is on sale at the moment. It has dropped against traditional currencies, but has dropped even more in comparison to Bitcoin. If you have some BTC, now is a great time to buy some STEEM with it. All of these options to invest in, and a blockchain that is retaining its advantages (fast, free transactions) while improving its deficiencies (moving to 50/50 author/curator rewards, setting up a development fund and more)

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Not to mention SMT's.

If you are familiar with STEEM, Smart Media Token's have been discussed, planned, postponed and delayed for far too long. But now, they really are coming. Once the next hardfork happens, attention will be focused on developing these SMT's into being a reality on STEEM. Basically, this will allow anyone to set up their own token, running on the STEEM blockchain, and having similar characteristics to STEEM. There are similarities and differences between these, and the Steem Engine approach. What it means though is more opportunities, more potential, greater decentralization and most importantly, possibilities.

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As an investor, is it time to reconsider STEEM, and research further in to all the different ways to earn an attractive ROI. The best thing is that it is possible to invest, earn a good ROI, and support the growth and development of a community that can help people improve their financial freedom and economic opportunities. It really is the ultimate ethical investment, and worth reconsidering the #newsteem opportunities.

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If you are on STEEM already, please feel free to share this article around your social media channels. It is original work, please don't plagarise.

If you are not involved in STEEM, feel free to contact me via twitter - (my twitter profile link) if you need any help to get started on your profitable STEEM investment.

This article is not to be considered financial advice - these are my personal thoughts and I am not a qualified Financial Adviser. Please do your own research.