I totally agree that the rising price of SBD was a pump & dump - but the size of the community & nature of Steem just dragged it out longer than it might happen on other coins.
However, do you not think that lightning can strike twice?
If whoever pumped SBD in the first place - obviously to make a quick buck is smart, they'll learn from what they learnt the first time around and put themselves in a position to profit again from the same tactic.
Only, what if next time they pump, they're on Steem too and are in a position to profit not only from the pump in the price, but from the rewards from the value of SBD within the Steem eco-system too.
They'd make a double killing second time around.
My focus is on getting Steem, not SBD, but I'll continue to keep an amount of SBD to keep my options open. Another pump might see me get 5 times as much Steem for my SBD than I would today. If not, I can live with that too.
I think they did this during the first pump too. I have no evidence, it's just a hunch. It looked way too coordinated and the amount of money thrown at it way too big for them not to think at every single opportunity to benefit from the entire operation.
And of course lightning can strike twice. Or even three or four times. Only this time we're speaking a much higher supply, and a potentially lower inertia from regular Steemit users, who will not eat the cake as easily as they ate it last time.
I don't know...that's an awefully nice cake to eat, even if you do know it's not good for you in the long-term :) How do you think the sugar and fast-food industries go from strength to strength?