To continue to play the devil's advocate, you cherry-picked the 1-year high as the start of your review. Review the price charts for the past year and things look rosier.
How do you know we're not settled to a fair price of $1, and $2.50 wasn't just a wild rare aberration?
But I really am just playing devil's advocate. In truth, I suspect that Steem is participating in a long-term cryptocurrency price slump.
That, or a certain reality has set in. I hope though, for the sake of my investment of time and money, you are right.