I mostly agree with the rating in the blog post in the O.P, though I'd probably rate it at just 2 or 2.5 stars; Bitfinex is very average, and its reputation only drags it down.
Despite that, the whales on that platform seem to slowly return as the cold wallet holdings of Bitfinex keep going up steadily, which is contradicting what most people think, that the exchange is going through a mass-exodus. Not the case.
What I'm less keen on is how there are a bunch of high profile Bitcoiners that previously were hating on that exchange, but after Bitfinex's adoption of Lightning they made a 360 shift and are even mild on Tether. That just shows how their incentives are put on the first place rather than warning people for exchanges that don't have a spotless track record.
In the end, whenever there is another bull mania all exchanges will benefit in terms of user onboarding. Bitfinex too. Yobit too. Hitbtc too.