So a group of ppl were just found guilty in court for a similar exploit manipulation like what Gene and the group did. I think the community and DAO and Company should all throw the book at every one of them.
I think we need to pay for a lawyer with the DAO funds for a consultation - the lawyer that won - and if he thinks we can win we should vote to retain him or her and go after Gene as well as anyone who benefited, knew beforehand or aided in making it possible.
Honestly doing that and getting a conviction that forces them to fork over the value extracted maliciously plus the indirect damages value which will dwarf the actual amount might restore a lot of confidence and interest in the project getting things going again. When you have a growth its best to just cut it out and we seem to just let are growth stay while helping it by feeding it etc. I get not taking assets but now if there is law it needs to be used against anyone involved who broke that law. If it is a case and its won it will make ppl like think a few times over and probably not do it.
Also anyone think going back to the beg of steem and looking at every transaction and record to put to gather a compete history and analyze it for other shady things is a good idea. The saying where there is smoke there is usually fire usually is true. Regardless i am going to do the work because of how he did me dirty and when ppl do that it means they likely have done it before and gotten away with it. That is the reason I do not stop even if I never get it back at least I become this thorn or a never ending worry that I may find something if there is anything to hide at any moment. The anticipation of something being found like a smoking gun is worse than being convicted.