Steem price is affected by BTC price to some extent and honestly the relationship isn't always a direct correlation. Several months ago when Bitcoin would go up, altcoins would typically drop. The past 2 months it's all moved together (BTC down, everything down / BTC up everything else up). It's an interesting dynamic for sure.
But to answer your question "can steem climb?" Yes, absolutely. A lot of people started having doubts about STEEM back in November 2017 right before the huge spike happened. I had my doubts as well but I held and am better off for it now even when it is so far from the recent highs. It just takes time. Of course there's always the chance that any crypto can fail and holders lose their money, but Steem is much less likely to have this happen than many other cryptos.
Many thanks made me more confident about steem's investment.