The successful history of Bitcoin can be attributed to its community that through countless efforts have pushed the adoption of the cryptocurrency to its current state, from a forum “nerd currency” to a globally accepted and used payment system.

Since cryptocurrencies belong to no one and to everyone at the same time, it is only normal that the community should take it upon themselves to push the cryptocurrency to new levels, which will benefit said user if he or she is a holder.

One particular member of the Steemit community is taking this concept to new levels and has decided to use Steem as an “investment free” crowdfunding system in order to promote the Steemit platform itself. In Steemit, writers can earn money for their posts, these rewards are distributed by and from the blockchain, Ricardo Gonçalves aka @Steemdrive has taken advantage of this system in order to ask for community votes that would fund a billboard campaign that puts the Steemit name in the real world.

The first Steemit post, in which the plan was detailed is one of the top paid posts on the platform as it gathered over $27,000, which was then split and divided by the voters and by the content creator himself. The proceeds gathered from this post were used to kickstart the Steemit billboard campaign, and to purchase the first two electric billboards in South Africa.

Many Steemit enthusiasts have decided to be part of this project and to act as ambassadors in an effort to make this an international campaign. Since then, billboards are in the works for New Zealand, and Chicago, U.S.A.

This community effort will hopefully get new users interested, not only in Steemit but in cryptocurrencies in general as Steem can be considered a “gateway” cryptocurrency. Ricardo Gonçalves told The Merkle:

Billboards not only are an inspiring initiative the community can stand behind; but also serve as ‘real-world’ validation that the Steem blockchain is real and so are the Steem Dollars that it pays out!