I agree the system can survive, but I think it's important to keep curation rewards. I think it has a strong effect on engagement and will be important in the long run. In the short run whales just get a large portion of the dilution from curation rewards back but it should slowly spread out over time. This system has much less value-add right now, but I suspect 3,5,10 years down the road many will be more engaged in curation. As far as financial vs altruistic I think both are fine. Value is subjective. You can either vote what you like to reward others or purely be motivated by profit. If you're motivated by profit you may vote for something you think others (esp big whales) like. That still provides more value to the ecosystem and large stakeholders because the content is customized for them. That should spread out over time. Whales will probably want more diversity because of all the complaints so they'll vote on things they think the general userbase will like and may support altruistic voters if they think it will attract more views. Again all value is subjective. Not everyone wants to follow the Kardasians, but a lot of people do...