Some Concerns...

Steemit Inc. is not Steem but it surely is mistaken with the blockchain a lot.

Add to this the fact that they own a large stake (more than 25% of the entire STEEM supply, if we only count the well-known Hive account@steem, Hive account@steemit and Hive account@misterdelegation accounts), and that they do or did most of the development on the blockchain side, hold still the most popular front-end and they onboard the most people to the Steem blockchain, all these certainly mean their actions or inaction reflect immensely on the entire blockchain.

For some time (shortly after Ned failed to appear in a scheduled broadcast without any explanation), Steemit rediscovered the silence treatment toward Steem community, or at most brief updates.

At the same time, Hive account@steem and Hive account@steemit accounts are currently in power down mode, while Hive account@ned powered down almost completely his account.

While there might be some explanations why the flagship accounts are powering down, nobody says a thing. For example, I discovered in one of Hive account@penguinpablo's reports that Hive account@steemit paid a 800k STEEM amount to an account Hive account@gsr-io which is associated with a website that offers market maker services. But the memo on that transaction edifies us on how the funds were used: "Programmatic sales with GSR.io".

This does have one good side to it, it increases distribution, while Steemit Inc. stake slowly diminishes.

Other large amounts of funds go to Hive account@steemit2 and Hive account@steemit3 and from there your guess is as good as mine who are the receivers of the funds and for what.

But seeing Hive account@steem and Hive account@steemit accounts in power down mode without any explanation, however vague it needs to be, is probably not a good thing for the general confidence of the community.

Then I read today a post I missed while on vacation. The post was ok, because it was an update from Steemit, but the comments introduced some news I was not aware of and which were not infirmed, which practically means they are confirmed:

Hive account@mentalhealthguru (51)
Is it true ned is leaving?

Hive account@sorin.cristescu (68)
On one hand, it shouldn't come as a surprise - he made it abundantly clear that he was not feeling at ease with Steemit.com. He said he wants to focus on Destiny (a new application on the steem blockchain that should leverage SMTs for ICO and focus on asset transfers, like other blockchains, rather than content)

I'm not sure that is a great idea (sounds like "fighting the last war" to me) but hey, he's a free man!

On the other hand, if we look back at the leadership he has provided here for the past 2 and 1/2 years, would you say that he'll be missed?

Ned stays with the steem blockchain. For the rest, whether he keeps focusing on Steemit.com or not, I don't see a big issue

Assuming this is true, the best way to deal with it, once the information is out to the public, is to talk about it and explain the situation. But again... the silence treatment.

What is not clear at all is... leaving what? Steemit, Inc.? That was a plan long ago when Destiny was not on the back burner. That Ned will form a new company and will work exclusively on Destiny. But is Destiny back and the old plans revived? Then how would we characterize the 70% layoffs in this new light?

So much coherence... I'm overwhelmed!