Steemit is just throwing their weight around. Nobody else gets a say in who the witnesses are. Freezing the assets of users is just ridiculous. I did not totally agree with the old witnesses doing that, but felt we could trust them to not do it indefinitely. It was just a bargaining chip against a possibly hostile force. The latest action is just revenge.

I thought Steem had a great future, but events have proved it was vulnerable to attack by the Steemit stake. Hive is not perfect either, but has more of a spread of stake.