As a minnow myself I agree with most of what you just said.
The trending page shows the same users with juicier rewards. But maybe its a matter of time until things adjust a little.
I think that now that some upvotes are worth a lot, many users are not giving as many of those away and maybe keeping them for themselves or friends/relatives. This is just an assumption, but could be the reason why you got fewer upvotes than you expected.

Time will tell... for the moment I like how thrilled everyone seems to be.

Have a good day!