Whales that upvote themselves aren't that different to people that spend lots of money on mining rigs and get lots of coins. They've made a big investment and you can't take your money out quickly when you power up. That might be why Steem doesn't seem to crash quite as hard as some other coins when the overall market is going down. Hope I haven't spoken too soon :)
RE: My Introduction to STEEMIT and my impression.