As a general rule I value the engagement more than the reward. That said, I like money. I want to earn money for the work I put into my content and the engagement that brings value to someone else's content.

I couldn't care less if someone votes my input at $0.01 or $100. Sure I'll likely crap myself if anyone voted any of my content at $100, but that wouldn't change the fact that i will continue to post what I find interesting and engage with people who either share my views or give me an opportunity for undiscovered knowledge.

As for the algorithm, I feel that a post reaching "trending" or "HOT" should be measured against both criteria. If a post has especially high engagement compared to other posts it stands to reason that it is contributing more community value. If a post has a large number of upvotes, it may be due to highly valued content, popularity of the author, general greed, pay-for-vote mechanisms, or any number of other factors.

That's just my $0.02 (even though right now it's only worth $0.005)