I've been on Medium three years. I'm not a popular writer because my "flagship" topic is not something people want to investigate--yet.

Anyways, I've seen several significant changes in this time. I believe Medium is making these changes because it has not yet found its business matrix: the spot where customers (readers), suppliers (writers), and staff (programmers, managers, etc.) come together in the right numbers to produce a profit or at least break even. Medium wouldn't be making these changes if it had found a successful formula.

When a big change is made, some writers do better. Some writers do worse.

There's a few high profile writers supposedly earning a professional income on Medium. I would say they really aren't that much better than many other writers. As far as I am concerned, if the high profile people move away from Medium, that increases my chances.