Mitigating Timing Attacks
Market participants have access to information faster than the blockchain’s three and a half day moving median conversion price can react. This information could be used to benefit of traders at the expense of the community. If there is a sudden increase in the value of STEEM traders could request conversion of their SBD at the old, lower price, and then sell the STEEM they receive a the new higher price with minimal risk.
Steem levels the playing field by requiring all conversion requests to be delayed for three and a half days. This means that neither the traders nor the blockchain has any information advantage regarding the price at the time the conversion is executed.
This only benefits traders/crypto savvy and not the majority who just have the ability to blog. I believe the current system though flawed, offers a move even ground for all parties.
What the original developers failed(and are still in denial) to acknowledge is that the value of anything(in this case sbd) will always be subject to market forces of demand and supply and hence price fluntuations. Limiting steem Power withdrawals is already sufficient to pad the steem ecosystem. Doing the same with sbd will only frustrate the general public.
One of the "benefits" of crypto over fiat is supposed to be instant transactions
SBD can still be traded in the open market. You do not have to do the 3.5 day conversion into STEEM. I believe nobody does because, as you say, market forces have pushed up the price of SBD beyond the price offered through the 3.5 day conversion into STEEM.
So is it safe to say that SBD rewards have confused your Steem blockchain experience?