The 104-day power down timeline is necessary for currency stability, according to the whitepaper. If you eliminate that, then the Steem likely free-falls.
I've been saying for a while now that the whales have been selling prematurely. We all know that this is a work in progress. Whales know it. Minnows know it. Everyone outside of the platform knows it. The biggest problem we're facing isn't necessarily the powering down - it's the actual selling on the external markets. It has happened too quickly. There's not enough demand for Steem, let alone Steem Power. People aren't going to power up to SP if they don't even want Steem. There needs to be interest and confidence in both the platform and the currency from users and investors alike. There needs to be more development.
Unfortunately, many of the whales started powering down and selling their Steem. Since the project is still in beta and still in need of a lot more development, it sends the wrong signal to investors and users. Would you invest in a company that hasn't gone public yet if the preferred stock holders were already selling off their stake before the final product was even ready for market? That's where Steemit is right now. This platform is not really market-ready. We are all essentially initial investors right now trying to build and market the product before the IPO. And when the largest invested among us are looking to exit their positions, it doesn't instill any confidence to other investors who might want to get in - especially when the product is still in dire need of further development.
That being said, I'm not pulling out my SP and don't plan to pull it out. In fact, I really don't even see it as mine. And currently, there's no reason for me to convert more SBD to SP. The amounts are so small that they won't make much of a difference anyway. As a writer, I have no desire to invest my own money into a platform where I'm not really that visible and need to rely on a random vote from a whale in order to earn anything. So, I'll play the waiting game and accumulate what I can while I actually try to curate good content.
I hope that this platform figures things out and is successful. But it's going to take an entirely different attitude and approach from those who are much more heavily invested. I get that they want to make money, but at the same time, they have to get this place developed properly or else all of that curating and powering down will mean nothing. It'll all be worthless. And there's no indication that any of them comprehend this.
There's a simple solution here:
Stop powering down and selling off large chunks of Steem. Redirect some of the Steem into platform development (which is being done to some extent). Improve the marketing (which is practically non-existent) to draw in new users. And most importantly - BE MORE TRANSPARENT.
We get a lot of posts about possible developments and tweaking voting/rewards, but we need more than that. There needs to be more communicating about why the powering down is happening, where the money is going, what the short and long-term plans are for those projects, and how they plan to draw in new users and investors. I get that this is decentralized, but it needs to be run more like a business and less like a Friday night poker game with your buddies. Sure, poker night is fun, but you're not really generating any revenues. This platform needs revenue - as in, buyers of Steem. Find ways to get people to buy. Get this place developed. Stop scaring people away with bad decisions and bad/non-existent marketing.
RE: My proposal: reduce the withdraw channel from 104 weeks to 104 days or even 104 hours to make steemit less like a ponzi scheme