What about making it so you earn the same curation reward for your vote regardless of how popular the article becomes?
Why is it a good thing to motivate someone to vote for something they think will be popular instead of what they actually like?
The logic is clearly being gamed, and is producing poor results (well, for some of us), so I suggest this is the problem spot we should focus on.
I also think that those who benefit may not be interested in fixing the system, which means the site will be weak to a potential competitor.
It's intended to produce good results. I think it's close, but needs a tweak to be successful.