Granted, it's not been around that long so I only have two Summers to go by, but it does seem like the price of STEEM waxes during the Summer and wanes in the Winter. Not as severely this Winter as the last, thank goodness. Those were dark times. I'm talkin' $55 or so per week dark.
Is this going to be the standard going forward? Insane surges every Summer followed by gradual deflation? Isn't that quite like the activity pattern of a hibernating animal. STEEM may be like a living thing in this respect, as the market behavior is reflective of the opinions and behaviors of humans, who are endothermic.
It might make some sort of abstracted sense, then, that cold temperatures which down-regulate human physical activity could also down-regulate human economic activity. If I'm rediscovering the wheel here, by all means let me know.
The post-Summer decline is at least much less steep now that STEEM is a somewhat established currency, and Steemit continues to succeed. One can hope that the pattern will continue, with each year's post-Summer decline being more and more gradual until it evens out into the steady year-round fluctuation seen in other established cryptos.
I say that because the alternative is manic periods of sudden wealth when it's warm and sunny outside followed by several months of desperate scrounging, which is no way to make a living. Having apparently lost the support of a whale recently, who was keeping my earnings just above the threshold I need to make rent, I am going to have to take my belt in a couple notches.
This pattern doesn't mean much to those at the low end who do this purely as a hobby, nor to the whales who make more than they need to live all year round. The people who are somewhere between those two extremes are a different story.
The difference between $20 per post and $10 per post for me is the difference between being able to afford food (and putting away money in savings) or not. I can't get food stamps because I foolishly reported my first Summer's high earnings to them and they believed me without asking to see proof.
But later, when I tried to revise my earnings during the post-Summer decline they suddenly wanted proof my earnings had diminished, which I couldn't provide as Steemit doesn't supply pay stubs and they wouldn't believe my bank statements. This has also recently made it difficult and perhaps impossible to renew my Oregon healthcare coverage. (It remains to be seen)
So if there's anything to this apparent seasonal pattern, I'd love to know about it. STEEM, and moreso Steemit, are new beasts doing things never seen before in the crypto world. As such, especially for those who depend on Steemit earnings to live, any knowledge whatsoever about legitimate patterns in how its price fluctuates would be invaluable.
Stay cozy!