Monetarily speaking on individual levels they did well with their earnings if they cashed out at price levels many times higher than what they are now.

Most people come to steemit to earn income, the problem is not that people at the bottom are cashing out, it is that the shadow mine was used improperly from the start in various ways and failed to find its way into the hands of a large enough group of people who were actually willing to distribute it and incentivize social activity.