If Steem Power were liquid, then the price would fall toward this equilibrium faster in a race to the exits. The people that dump first win (in the short term) and the rest lose (in the short term).

Which is exactly what has happened. The whales are powering down and cashing out as fast as they can before a STEEM coin is worth complete zero - and it's nearly there. From $4.42 each to $0.72 each per coin. That's .0071 to .0011 in BTC (Bitcoin) terms.

Here inside Steemit land, there are hundreds of fanatics who don't look at the STEEM coin price and therefore don't realize how shaky the foundation of Steemit is.
Outside of Steemit, on the exchanges, "STEEM" is a laughing-stock coin. People on the exchanges who ask about STEEM are told two things: to look at the overall chart, and then to go to SteemWhales.com and look at who is powering down and cashing out while the getting is good.

Without people buying the coin on the exchanges (which they aren't), there is no money to keep the payouts going and the lights turned on in here.