If all whales would have participated in this experiment smooth and co wouldn't have to downvote anything,  unfortunately there will always be a few whales that won't go along with the plan so Im not sure how else this experiment would have been possible..

>I think youre assuming a causation there that really hasnt been established. IIUC, it was a pretty bull day overall for alts

It's been bull day for weeks for alts and steem was always the only one in the red, why is it different today?   Also the price hasn't gone up for a very long time so why is it up today? I don't think its a coincidence.  These blockchains have value because they empower people, the more they do the more value they have.