These are my 3 cents which fit in your view:
Regarding the first catalyst for bitcoin turning bullish again: there is already a hard fork in the making: bitcoin private (https://bitcoinpvt.org) In fact it already pumped zcash classic, because you'll get BTPs if you hold bitcoin OR ZCL at the time of the fork. (see also https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/zclassic/). The fork is timed in a couple of weeks. Unlike Bitcoin Gold (which is a joke) it could gain some serios traction (50 contributors, ZN-SNARKS, 2MB, segwit, yadah yadah)
From a TA perspective it looks like a HS was prevented - but i'm not a TA expert - which is also slightly bullish.
Sooner or later a ripple or raiblocks or tron is gonna implode just by it's own weight without having bitcoin doing anything significant.
Btw. thank you for promoting STEEM. A lot of people still thinking its a scam, which is sad. Despite the recent price action, the numbers (new users, posts, comments) are exploding.
Thanks for the thoughts humbrie. I'm not sure Bitcoin private will do the trick as there isn't too much buzz about it (some humming though - never know). I can understand why people think Steem is a scam - the money seems to come from thin air and an absurd amount of it gets paid to posts that provide nearly zero value (which is disappointing). I like being part of this ecosystem, but I can only hope in the long-term it attracts more high quality contributions and fairer payouts. I believe there is a chance though - many passionate individuals fighting for this very idea.