<div class="pull-right">https://pennsif.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/steem-news-2-454x278.png</div>

<strong>The Steem / Tron battle rolls on.</strong>

<strong>The fighting has largely taken to the centralised streets of Twitter Town.</strong>

<strong>Under strong pressure from the Steem community both Binance and Huobi have now agreed to power down.</strong>

<strong>And the views and commentary from the witnesses, the community and the crypto media keeps flowing.</strong>

---
---

<h3>Power Down of the Exchanges</h3>

An intense war of words is being played out on Twitter.

Justin Sun posted on Twitter...

> On March 3rd, we found out that the witnesses who froze our 65 million STEEM are writing codes to also freeze the assets of Binance, Huobi, Poloniex and all the people who voted for the new witnesses. 
* https://github.com/SteemDevs/steem/blob/0.22.6/libraries/protocol/hardfork.d/0_22.hf

* https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1236341584876068869

This received a large scale contrary response from the Steem Community.

The Tron Foundation backed this up with a post on Medium...

<ul>
<li><a href="https://medium.com/@TronFoundation/the-truth-behind-steem-takeover-38179feba963">The Truth Behind “Steem Takeover”</a></li>
</ul>

---

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder and CEO of Binance, the largest exchange involved in the Tron witness voting, posted on Twitter...

> STEEM thread. I was hoping not to be involved, but alas, doesn’t seem to be possible. I did approve the vote from Binance, thinking (wrongly) it was a regular upgrade/fork. For that, I apologize. Guess it is only fair that I get involved until the issue is resolved.

* https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1236373829037023238

CZ posted a number of questions to ascertain the facts of the situation.

The Steem Community responded en masse to answer the questions.

At around 9pm UTC on 7 March, CZ announced that Binance would begin powering down their stake on Steem...

> Thank you for responding. I think it’s pretty clear now.  @binance will do the STEEM power down (something I just learned today) , will take a few hours at least, resume withdrawals and go from there. 
We make mistakes, but we always listen to our community. Folded handsFolded handsFolded hands

* https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1236396874690695173

<ul>
<li>@kingscrown - <a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@kingscrown/media-update-on-justin-sun-vs-steem-binance-to-power-down">Media Update on Justin Sun vs STEEM - Binance to Power Down!</a></li>
</ul>

---

A few hours later, around 4am UTC on 8 March,  Ciara Sun, Vice President @ Huobi, announced their exchange had initiated a power down...

> Power down, done. Exchanges received file of “set/cancel proxy, power up/down” on 2/28. Tested for power down 5 days ago and all done 1 hour ago.  Apologies for not reaching out to Steem developers to understand the full picture to make a better decision in the first place.

* https://twitter.com/CiaraHuobi/status/1236507470895427585

<ul>
<li>@aggroed - <a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@aggroed/update-huobi-started-powering-down">Update- Huobi started powering down</a></li>
</ul>

---

Around 7am UTC on 8 March, Justin Sun posted on Steem that progress is being made.

>Hello everyone, we know we got off on the wrong foot, and have spoken with many Steemians over the last few days, we have learned a lot about the community, and whilst still having a lot to learn, we now understand Steem a lot better than we did when we first started here....

<ul>
<li><a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@justinsunsteemit/progress-being-made">Progress being made</a></li>
</ul>

@aggroed has posted his response...

<ul>
<li><a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@aggroed/my-response-to-justin">My response to Justin</a></li>
</ul>

---

As an adjunct to all this action, @ura-soul reported on a statement on Twitter by @theycallmedan (3.32am UTC, 8 March)  that Tron had offered to sell the Steemit Inc stake to him at a discounted price...

>Full disclosure, Tron approached me to sell the entire stake at a discounted price. I turned them down because I don't want funds that were promised to the community for 4 years. I'm spending waaay more buying STEEM on @BittrexExchange  because I'm not willing to touch INC stake.

* https://twitter.com/TheycallmeDan_/status/1236494910154362880

<ul>
<li><a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@ura-soul/tron-offered-3speak-s-dan-a-chance-to-buy-all-of-steemit-inc-s-tokens-at-discounted-rate">TRON Offered 3Speak's Dan A Chance To Buy ALL Of STEEMIT Inc's Tokens at Discounted Rate!?</a></li>
</ul>

---
---

<h3>Top 20 Witnesses</h3>

Despite some more big votes moving around, the top 20 witness situation still appears to be in a stalemate phase.

The 'original' Steem witnesses are holding on to the top 10 spots through respectively @blocktrades, @good-karma, @roelandp, @anyx, @someguy123, @ausbitbank, @yabapmatt, @gtg, @steempress and @themarkymark.

11 through 20 of the top 20 witness positions are being held by the Tron backed witnesses.

Neither side has the required super-majority of 17 to push through a hard fork...

* https://steem.arcange.eu/witnesses/

---
---

<h3>Four-Party Dialogue Proposal from SteemCoinpan</h3>

To help push the discussions forward the Korean community through @jayplayco, SteemCoinpan @sct, and the large @proxy.token account, have proposed a four party dialogue between...

* 1 representative from the Steem Foundation
* Justin Sun, representing the Tron Foundation
* 1 representative from the previous witnesses
* 1 representative from the Korean community

The meeting would be hosted by @jayplayco....

<ul>
<li><a href="https://steemit.com/hive-101145/@sct/four-party-dialogue-proposal-steem-foundation-tron-foundation-steem-witnesses-and-korean-community">[공지]Four-Party Dialogue Proposal (Steem foundation, Tron foundation, Steem witnesses, and Korean community)</a></li>
</ul>

In preparation for this meeting @glory7 is posting with ideas to address specific issues. First up - witness voting...

<ul>
<li><a href="https://steemit.com/hive-101145/@glory7/let-s-change-1sp-30-votes-current-to-1sp-1vote">Let's change 1SP 30 votes (current) to 1SP 1vote</a></li>
</ul>

---
---

<h3>Views from the Witnesses</h3>

The witnesses are at the heart of the debate, here are some of their views...

<ul>
<li>@ura-soul - <a href="https://steemit.com/hive-100421/@ura-soul/yjovxoxe">Binance Backs Down on STEEM/TRON Conflict. Evidence in This Video That TRON KNEW The Tokens Would Be Frozen BEFORE Buying STEEMIT</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>@thecryptodrive - <a href="https://steemit.com/spanish/@thecryptodrive/two-latino-community-witnesses-ready-to-launch-into-top20-vote-now">Two Latino Community Witnesses Ready to Launch into Top20 - Vote Now!</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>@lukestokes - <a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@lukestokes/fact-steemit-sybil-attacked-the-steem-blockchain">Fact: Steemit Sybil Attacked the Steem Blockchain</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>@bobinson - <a href="https://steemit.com/witness-update/@bobinson/expections-of-the-steem-community">Expections of the Steem community</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>@jackmiller - <a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@jackmiller/sharing-thoughts-i-will-not-turn-my-back-on-my-mates-fellow-steemians">Sharing Thoughts - I Will Not Turn My Back On My Mates/Fellow Steemians</a></li>
</ul>

---
---

<h3>Views from the Community</h3>

The community are still expressing their varying views about the current situation...

<ul>
<li>@steemmatt - <a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@steemmatt/do-we-need-1-000-negative-posts-recapping-steem-tron-or-100-actionable-constructive-ones">Do We Need 1,000 Negative Posts Recapping Steem-Tron, Or 100 Actionable/Constructive Ones?</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>@glenalbrethsen - <a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@glenalbrethsen/tron-vs-steem-is-the-steem-community-already-speaking">TRON vs. STEEM: Is The STEEM Community Already Speaking?</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>@inertia - <a href="https://steemit.com/blockchain/@inertia/achieving-decentralization">Achieving Decentralization</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>@jongolson - <a href="https://steemit.com/business/@jongolson/howtoloseabusinessorcommunityovernight-s9aqv62dow">How To Lose A Business Or Community Overnight...</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>@phgnomo - <a href="https://steemit.com/hive-175254/@phgnomo/witnessess-you-fucked-up-it-is-probably-time-to-take-responsability-for-your-own-mistakes">Witnessess, you f**** up... It is probably time to take responsability for your own mistakes</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>@geekgirl - <a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@geekgirl/open-letter-to-steem-korean-community-and-proxy-token">Open Letter to Steem Korean Community and Proxy.Token</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>@kopasi - <a href="https://steemit.com/hive-101145/@kopasi/sigizzang">@sigizzang 님에게 도움을 요청합니다</a></li>
</ul>

---
---

<h3>Coverage in the Crypto Media</h3>

These current activities on Steem are attracting considerable attention in the crypto media...

<ul>
<li>CoinTelegraph - <a href="https://magazine.cointelegraph.com/2020/03/07/justin-suns-epic-fail-steem-community-nailed-it/">Justin Sun’s Epic Fail — Steem Community Nailed It</a></li>
</ul>



---
---

<h4>KEY DATA  [ from <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com">CoinMarketCap</a> &amp; @arcange ]</h4>

<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 176px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">Steem price</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">US$ 0.210</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">08 Mar '20 12.53pm UTC</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">CoinMarketCap Ranking</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">#72</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">08 Mar '20 12.53pm UTC</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">FCAS Score</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">760 / A</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;"><a href="https://app.flipsidecrypto.com/fcas-scores">08 Mar '20 12.53pm UTC</a></td>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">SBD price</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">US$ 0.813</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">08 Mar '20 12.53pm UTC</td>
</tr>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">No. of Whales</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">45</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;"><a href="https://steemit.com/hive-133987/@arcange/steem-statistics-20200306-en">06 Mar '20</a></td>
</tr>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">No. of Orcas</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">368</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;"><a href="https://steemit.com/hive-133987/@arcange/steem-statistics-20200306-en">06 Mar '20</a></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">No. of Dolphins</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">2226</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;"><a href="https://steemit.com/hive-133987/@arcange/steem-statistics-20200306-en">06 Mar '20</a></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">No. of Minnows</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">9342</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;"><a href="https://steemit.com/hive-133987/@arcange/steem-statistics-20200306-en">06 Mar '20</a></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">Alexa rank (steemit.com)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">#15,768</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;"><a href="https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/steemit.com">07 Mar '20 2.51pm UTC</a></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">Unique visitors (steemit.com)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;"> 199,595 / day</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;"><a href="https://hypestat.com/info/steemit.com">07 Mar '20 2.51pm UTC</a></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">Page views (steemit.com)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;">479,028 / day</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 22px;"><a href="https://hypestat.com/info/steemit.com">07 Mar '20 2.51pm UTC</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Follow @penguinpablo  & @steemdapps for more statistics.

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This is #279 (08 Mar '20) of this daily news service.

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<em>[ graphics & images by @pennsif ]</em>