The short of it is I believe in 1% or 2% increments.

This would indeed be a sound, and not unheard of, solution. GTG got the right idea reducing incrementally I reckon. Just like you say, big jumps are just not conducive to a dependable business architecture. People from the regular world of economics would see that and compare it to financial crashes in housing bubbles etc. It may not apply here, but that's how it'll look.

But, I do still think there should be at least some effort to actually promote this supposed promotional APR deal first.

We have instant signups, no email or verification

True yeah BUT, it's still not that smooth in the way people are used to. My last attempt at onboarding somebody was a nightmare. True, he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but like even now:

You try an account on Peakd: Sorry we ran out of account tokens.
Try on Ecency: Internal server error.

Suddenly you start thinking this is how they make you pay.

You get referred to signup.hive and you are bombarded with seven sign up options.

Which ones are going to be an error this time? Why are they offering anywhere from free to $3.80 for what is basically the exact same product; an account? RCs, what?

When I log in, which password do I use? How do I change it? What the hell is keychain? I have to download an extension? What's peak lock?

I think we often forget how dumb the average user is regarding this stuff. I have a new colleague who desperately asked me for help the other day because he couldn't edit a document after several hours. I pointed to the giant yellow 'click to edit' button and went about my day in despair.