Very well written and thoughtful analysis. I'm excited to see what happens! As a long term hodler I'm not so concerned about the potential volatility. I'll just be happy to see some kind of shakeup of the status quo. I've been steadily accumulating a decent sized SP position and powering up all my posting rewards, in anticipation of a possible trend reversal. But as you say, maybe accelerated power downs will actually increase selling pressure until some equilibrium point is reached, so if that happens I'll be grabbing all the cheap Steem I can!

The Dumpening scenario would actually be quite healthy for the ecosystem, as it would lead to increased distribution of power across accounts, counteracting the concentration of SP in the hands of the top few, which has always been one of the platform's biggest problems. Having a new and sizeable dolphin class established once the dust settles is the outcome I'm hoping for.