While on face value this bear market seems incredibly bad, I think it will be seen as a good thing in hindsight.

1. It forced Steemit Inc to get serious and solve many problems that high Steem prices were masking, like high operating costs. The advances they have made over the last 5 months have been incredible. Yes, SMTs are not here but I think that could possibly be a good thing because I don’t think the blockchain was ready to scale yet. I think when SMTs are finally released the blockchain will be ready. In many ways, the worse thing that could happen to Steem is mass adoption before we are ready, people get a bad taste in their mouth, and never come back. RC delegations seem critical imo. The bear market also led to Ned steppping into a different role. Him doing that was a sign of leadership he doesn’t get enough credit for unless it was forced upon him. I don’t know the details.

2. It was the moment that the community decided to step up just in case Steemit Inc didn’t make it. This was the spark that is now leading to things like the Alliance and the Worker Proposal System. Not to mention projects like Steem-engine. A move toward a more decentralized ecosystem was and is important. The downfall in December helped this.