"If enough people are using the chain that would greatly limit the available supply and the market forces would do the rest."

If! If! If! Yes, but in Steem's case, the number of people using the chain is rapidly decreasing, as is Steem's price and daily volumes. Virtually every crypto site on the internet has a "sell" rating on Steeem.

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/steem

As for Steemit, most of Steemit's longest and biggest members are cashing in and moving on, if they have not already done so. I realize that you are loyal to Steem / Steemit, and would like to see it (them) succeed, which in itself is commendable, but at the same time, there is no logic in staying on a sinking ship.

"For Bitcoin you need to pay fees in order to transact so you actually need to acquire it to be able to use the blockchain."

You also have to buy Steem in order to gain any Steem Power on Steemit, and for that, you also have to pay a fee. And to make matters even worse, it is very difficult to get your money (crypto) back if and when you discover that Steemit is little more than a misrepresented ponzi scheme, with rules that only support Steemit Whales. Also, having to wait 13 weeks to power down is simply not acceptable by anyone's standards. Can you imagine how few customers a bank would have if their customers had to wait 13 weeks to make a withdraw? Steem / Steemit are essentially dead! Most people in the know realize that fact. Steemit's loyal members just do not realize that fact yet, or else simply will not accept it. Time will tell!