Interesting read. Just a few fragmented points
- I have not log in for a long time since i dun blog a lot  at steemit actually and generally not so comfortable with talking about myself to strangers. I still visit facebook and twitter and the likes because my friends are there so there is probably nothing for me to stay in steemit, both content-wise and friends. Personally, i dun find the trending content attractive and so far only followed a few people who talked sense. But i noticed that even the few people who talked sense dun seem to be posting much in steemit. I am the occasional crypto trader, and of course short steem many times. As for blog,  maybe just a personal blog. I can see perspectives from perhaps both a content creator and trader. There got to be a midpoint where both roles can meet and work together to make the platform work. HODL steem as a trader is not possible. You can only count on investors who likely want to reward their favorite exclusive content creators. So my advice is probably to have **layers of exclusive hidden content from public and featured writers, be it whales or community voted.** I am pretty sure steem blockchain may be able to do this.

- Steem and steemit probably need a big hype again and the price may then probably go up to have a **steak lunch** maybe  :-)

- Anyway, i like your frank opinions. You have a vibrant blog personality and that's why you have many followers. They may not upvote you with big bucks but they are secretly reading your blog for free (like what i do, i dun log in frequently). If steemit fails, please update where you are going.