So far since did start of alt coins there are pump and dumps on every single one, steem is actually a token but does act as a monetary value as well like ETH and DOA's most alt coins other nothing different to any other altcoin, Bitcoin and Litecoin and possibly still Dodge other and work a bit like the gold silver and bronze in your pocket. if you are investing you need to do your due diligence an example would be is this the same as any other alt coin YES?NO, does this other a technology that I see a future in YES/NO is it a space that is already occupied by other programs YES/NO, and so on. A lot of people who have joined do not yet have a full understanding of how share markets or forex markets work, I see this in a lot of posts the choise you have here you can use the platform as an extension of your twitter profile or blog and not get into the nitty gritty or you can over time learn a little more invest what you can afford to lose (this a golden rule for most investors and never have all your eggs in one basket) its up to what you want to get out of this that determines how much you want to commit.