I don't think that's the case. I've been on Medium for over 3 years now, and I was publishing weekly, regularly, the whole time. My followers and views climbed, as did my earnings...until...about 2020. Still getting lots of views, but my earnings tanked. Like to 10% of what they used to be. They fiddled with various "bonuses" and such to bring it up a little, but in the end, I simply was not getting paid, despite having a large following and publishing regularly.