Bots are only worthwhile if you're really good at creating material tailor-made to get some votes from whales, and you invest enough to make sure it stays on the hot page for long enough to be seen by them. It's a big investment and gamble, and it's better to establish ties first before making such a move. But the fact that all of that has to be done in the first place just goes to show that content discovery mechanisms on this site are really awful.
Oh, and many, many whales have already skimmed and sold enough to retire in this price move and the first price move steem ever had. This one is just unique in the explosive power of SBD's rise which changed things up a bit.
thanks for some more color on this @charitybot! I agree... there was a mania into crypto which made everyone go crazy... so now the good thing is the system can reset itself!