You are absolutely right about hype and irrationality driving the market. I find it irritating to say the least when garbage coins just skyrocket to the top of the charts on unconfirmed rumors and FOMO while better options stay stagnant.
When I look at what a lot of cryptos claim they are going to do STEEM is already there. Correct me if I'm wrong but the Steem blockchain already processes the most transactions and is still lightning quick. Steem already has handles instead of character strings that are impossible to memorize and reasonable governance model. Steem probably has the most individual accounts. Multiple applications are already interacting with the blockchain and SMT's are on the way. Why STEEM isn't a top ten coin boggles my mind.