Self voting is another issue and I don't think services like blocktrades will increase self voting
I disagree and made a post about it:
https://steemit.com/steem/@onthewayout/why-steem-power-delegation-services-are-bad
I am with you on the gap between curation and self voting.
I didn't know that @blocktrades's service is only profitable if you upvote yourself, you did a great analysis. I've resteemed your post.
Also I'm pretty sure @blocktrades started this service because like everyone else he thought curating was not worth it any more, he used to curate great content. The change to 25/75 was detrimental imo.