A year ago, STEEM was at about $1.50 (peaked at about $2.50 a month earlier), but for the first half of 2017 it was around 20 cents. The jump from 20 cents to around $2 meant people's accounts increased ten-fold in dollar terms. As you say, earning STEEM now and waiting for the price to rise again seems a good strategy.

The bear market was obvious from January onwards; the time to have sold was either then or the fake rally in May. I've said before that if the crypto market cap does not hold $250bn, then we are staring down at a market without a traditional technical support. My tentative guess is to expect going down a further 50% to $120bn. Grim, but everyone needs to decide what to do based on their personal finances... and expectations.