Well one of the major possible reasons is how the current power down system has a massive influence on the price of steem. I wrote a post a few days about this and am confronting the people involved.
Why they went for 13 weeks is still a mystery to me.
https://steemit.com/steem/@steemitblog/final-review-of-steem-economic-changes
https://steemit.com/steemit/@oudekaas/why-powering-down-could-end-up-in-shutting-down
I also have been curious about the lack of rise in steem esp. when the market is up to 120 billion!
Yes It does look suspicious, have you any theory on it?
I really don't, although as a new user of the site I found it initially pretty discouraging until I started getting some good stuff in my feed and discounted the idea that I might actually make a little money here lol so I wonder if a lot of new money has left for that reason