Let's be honest, it's all a question of manipulation (marketing) and hype (FOMO).
If some random celebs sign up here to be rewarded by their followers you'd see some decent money flow coming in and then other people joining in causing a chain reaction -> causing a very nice situation for us.
The #1 Steem needs right now is decent marketing and that not only from the content provider side but also from the DApp platform side.
Marketing to the consumer.
In the OP he's talking about what the crypto crowd would do. That's such a small market that they don't really matter and appealing to them would be shooting far too low.
I don't know if you read this post but I suggest you do, mainly so I don't have to repeat myself so much.
The question is always ''why would someone purchase steem to reward people" and I've answered countless times, many different ways.
I had said many times at different places already as well. Why do we need whales to enter, for the health of the platform, ten thousand people purchasing 1000 steem would be much better.
The problem I still see is that the entry barrier to crypto for normal people is relatively high still.
Millions of people are always willing to spend less.
You're right about the entry but at one point in Canada I could go to a retailer and purchase STEEM. I'm not sure if that still exists and I can't remember the name of the company providing the service.
So before marketing I'd want to make purchasing easier. Then go nuts. The entertainment industry business model is where it's at for the simple fact the people already spend the money... and I'll just keep yelling at the clouds and sounding like a fool until I get my way.. LOL!