I have a much simpler idea - just adjust the algorithm for trending so it's not so heavily weighted by money earned. There's stuff that gets much more votes but misses the trending page because it never caught the eyes of whales. I say weigh trending page more towards a bit more towards raw number of votes.
At least for a while, so they get the attention of whales.
RE: The trending trap: A better way to view Steemit content