I wonder if platforms like Nexo would be a good option in the next bull run. You'd still probably need to sell some STEEM for BTC, but then you could get cash with no fees coming out, presuming you have a fiat bank account somewhere. You wouldn't sell your crypto for a few years and then only sell enough to pay the 10% interest rate, which should be far less than the appreciation you saw during the period by not cashing out your crypto.

Of course, if there is a "bull start" that fizzles and turns bull again, you could get into such a squeeze that you wind up having to sell all your crypto to repay the loan. So there is some risk involved.

To me the risk of Tether is that you miss all the increases and move into Tether always when the market is down. I see that most people wind up doing that, even though they are certainly not trying to.