We've all heard the mantra 'buy the rumor, sell the news', but this saying is only applicable when the news is good. If the rumor was a bad one you'd expect quite the opposite. Users would sell in anticipation of a crash with the intent of buying the dip later. Could this have happened to Steem recently?
Binance
Having recently announced that Americans would no longer be able to use their worldwide service featuring hundreds of pairings, this was incredibly bearish for Steem. In my experience, Binance was the best way to get Steem on my account. However, now that everything is said and done, my account is still up and running. How long until people realize it doesn't really matter that much. Bittrex has a listing for us as well.
HF21
I was overwhelmingly against the new economic changes for Steem. Curation doesn't make sense in the consensus layer. The reward curve leaches value from the smallest accounts. Adding a new resource out of thin air (downvote pool) is risky.
However, more than all of this I was against the changes because it shows how centralized these decisions are. If Steemit Inc wants something, for the most part, they get it. Plain and simple. In my eyes the history behind the hardfork will have bulls who value decentralization questioning this network for years to come.
"That's already priced in."
The market is getting smarter. Events are getting priced in sooner and sooner. I'm beginning to wonder when Bitcoin's halfening will be priced in. Only 237 days to go.
In any case, all of Steem's negative publicity seems to finally be priced in. I never thought we'd dip below 80 cents, and here we are at 16. The bottom is in, at least I think it will be for sure by the end of October.
SMT
How many crypto enthusiasts have simply given up on SMTs and assume it to be vaporware at this point? Our marketing is so bad that the fundamental gains we are making might not be captured by the market for years to come. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised when the testnet finally arrives.
Conclusion
The whims of the market are unpredictable. We have a tendency to fret about the choppy action on the surface when all of the really interesting developments are going on largely unnoticed. Price action is ironically not a good metric for valuation.