[Interesting article](https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/20/whats-keeping-cryptocurrencies-from-mass-adoption/) on how instability can be an obstacle to cryptocurrency adoption, on a high profile tech site. I am of the opinion that cryptocurrencies need to be used to have real value. When they are just being speculated then they may as well be [tulips](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania). 

Steem and Steemit get a mention about half way down in relation to [Bitshares](https://bytemaster.github.io/update/2014/12/18/What-is-BitShares/). That may lead a few more people here.

Steem is actually pretty stable. It's only really dropping on [Coinmarketcap](https://coinmarketcap.com/) due to others leapfrogging it. Steem Dollars are another matter. Speculators are trading millions per day and driving it up and down. I realise that speculation is part of the capitalist economy, but it doesn't necessarily benefit the coin. 

I've been saying all along that there needs to be a market for goods and services using Steem and/or SBD. That will drive demand due to the ease of use and zero fees. It will also allow more people to build up Steem Power, even if they are not blogging much.

Steemit has other obstacles to overcome. Hardly anyone has heard of it and when they do they are likely to be confused and [suspect a scam](https://steemit.com/faq.html#Is_Steemit_a_scam). We need a clear explanation to introduce new users. The FAQ goes some way towards this. The [white paper](https://steem.io/SteemWhitePaper.pdf) will probably baffle them. This should be a key are for the marketing team to work on. We have to lower the obstacles for new users or they just won't stick around.

Steem on!

<p><div class="pull-left"><img src="https://steevc.keybase.pub/steemit/steevc.png"></div>
I'm Steve, the geeky guitarist. </p><p>Mine cryptocurrency in the cloud at <a href="https://www.eobot.com/user/513333">Eobot</a>, including Steem. You can earn as you chat using <a href="https://www.wowapp.com/w/steevc/Steve-Clark">WowApp</a>.  If you use these links I get a small reward. You can recruit others to do the same.</p>