I do not see the current situation as a result of Steemit internals, like Dan making a own site or what ever else.
Look at the crypto market - every single coin ( except for a handful that seems to be tied to the USD) is taking the same nose dive as Steem does. Minus 20, even 30% all over the place.
And you are right, there are some strange reactions to this. A guy on MSNBC or so was still forecasting BTC at $15.000 by new year - which is in 6 weeks.
I will carry on here no matter what I get for it. I never made real money here anyway, so whats the difference. But I met a number of interesting people, which counts more to me than the rewards.
May be it all has a good side, too: the greedy jerks, the scammers and bots and all the ones who only are here for the money will probably go away, if its not profitable any longer.