The year 2018 brought many challenges to blockchain projects. The bear market caused large communities to decrease their size in members and budget. With a vicious circle when, due to lack of capital, people sought new sources of income outside the crypto ecosystem, and that this desertion also diminished the capital of the projects. Steem was not the exception.
Recent chronology of Steemit
The HF20 that was held in September 2018, brought hope that things would improve in the block chain. Criticism was already accumulating towards @ned (Steemit's CEO and creator of Steem's blockchain) and the role of Steemit Inc due to its delay with the SMT and it was around those dates that announced its definitive release for March 2019.
That hard fork came with some technical problems that left the platform without activity for several days. The users with low Steem Power were with an announcement that they could not publish because they had spent the resources. As time passed, it was solved and the newest steemians got used to the new change, managing their resources better.
This brought positive things. For example many already understood the importance of investing in their accounts, acquiring more SP and doing power up more often. It also brought the union of many witnesses who worked together in the solution of technical problems.
After this, criticism of Ned increased, because the changes of the HF20 were not paying off. The most anticipated was the creation of new accounts more easily and at lower cost. As of today, people should expect the same or more to obtain their free account.
The straw that broke the camel's back was when Ned announced that he would give a press conference where he would explain, among other things, the dismissal of 70% of his employees and that the community could ask their questions. This did not occur and Ned warned that he was sick so he reprogrammed it a few days later. That day did not attend either and did not give any notice with the reason for the cancellation.
Source
https://www.criptotendencias.com/actualidad/controversia-en-steemit-conspiracion-contra-su-ceo/