In the past few days Steem has exhibited an amazing and explosive growth like no other cryptocurrency. Naturally, such a rally invites criticism from traders, proponents and competitors alike, and indeed Steem has been accused of being a pump and dump scheme.
Let’s start from the end: Is Steem under a pump and dump scheme?
There seems to definitely be an element of pump and dump surrounding the recent price moves although this is probably not the full story.
A lot of projects are starting to see an increased coverage in the news which is drawing people into looking at Steem more deeply. This is a self-perpetuating cycle as the more the price moves, the more people become interested, the more articles are written and the more the price moves. Classically this has characteristics of a bubble but the underlying characteristics of Steem could be potentially huge. It comes down to valuation and whether the value is being overhyped or not.
Well written