Completely agree with you that Steem is on the brink of a huge transformation. Not only steem but the whole blockchain community is going to witness a great transition. You have rightly mentioned that speculation is driven by market sentiments but i would like to add that cryptos are also driven by pump and dump method which is done by some group of people for short term gain. But all in all kudos to Steem for giving serious people like us a great platform to share our views and also get enlightened on the topics of our choice by learned people all across the world.
Thanks