# I never realised why Bitshares wasn't just another scamcoin.
# Before I came to STEEM.
http://bitcoin-daytrading.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/BitShares.png

But I do now. After participating in the STEEM community for a few weeks, I now realise the potential that Bitshares has got. Potential that other altcoins lack on a major basis. I realised that the STEEM cofounder was also the Bitshares co-founder. And the two systems structurally has great similarities.

One of the most attractive option that Bitshares offers to investors as well as general users is the Smartcoins, or BitAssets. They offer a real alternative to other centralized payment gateway. For example, BitUSD. Instead of using, say, a dodgy service like Perfectmoney, you could just use BitUSD to do the job.

The thing that I LOVE most about Bitshares?

Well, there are actually two.

1. I have the peace of mind that the Bitassets are backed with at least 300% of collateral. Which means, no more dodgy fractional reserve scams. No more ponzi schemes. Even if Bitshares falls over 50% of its value, I've still got more than 100% of my value backed in bitshares.

2. You can earn a profit on your BTC, gold, silver(If you are a gold/silver bug), without any counterparty risks. If you believe in gold for the long term, you are probably better off holding bitGOLD(not the site) instead of holding physical gold. It's so much easier to liquidate it, and there is going to be a smaller spread(once the market cap gets bigger).The most attractive option to me is BitBTC. There is now no reason to hold your bitcoins in bitcoins anymore. Hold them in bitBTC, and earn interest.

# Remember, that all these investments that sound "too good to be true" is actually true! Remember, they are backed by easily liquidable BTS!
 
If a merchant wants to accept USD, but wants to offer their customers a cryptocurrency solution, then BitUSD is your perfect answer. Not only is it fast and secure, the merchant can also generate a profit out of accepting BitUSD, since BitUSD is worth *AT LEAST* $1 at all times. But usually, it's a few cents over $1. He can also simply hold the coins, and earn a decent interest.

https://img3.picload.org/image/rgpclgpl/bitusd-logo@3x.png

I was so excited when I learned what BTS really was. I hope you are too, and get to know what it is better.

#Bitshares #Steem

#### P.S. (For dan) I'm just experiencing some difficulties launching the BTS client on OSX. I've tried all the API connections, none of them work for me though. However, if I accessed the wallet via the web wallet, then it would work all perfectly fine.
#### It's telling me that "Connection Status NOT CONNECTED".
#### Any potential fixes that I should try? Anyone else experiencing the same problems?