This is a continuation of the first part of our What is Steem Series Part 1 ( https://steemit.com/steem/@dashpaymag/dashpay-magazine-s-what-is-steem-series-or-part-1)

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## All Aboard!

By now you've probably heard about Steem's massive growth in market-cap. If you've been under a rock the last couple of days, check out the chart below and look at that massive, beautiful growth. As you can see, from the 11th of July Steem has been on quite the bender growing more than 1000% and making a lot of early bloggers some nice change. The market cap has grown from $57 million to $330 million at the time of writing. This rapid growth has shot it to one of the top 5 crypto currencies available. And with several hundred new users per day, it is likely that this growth will continue for some time.
https://s31.postimg.org/hpoqe5kjf/chart_7.png
 When I first got introduced to this platform a month and a half ago, I was highly skeptical. I'm still skeptical but not so much anymore. Steem has proven to be a viable way for a small time writer to make a living. But it is also proving to be more than that. For the first time since Bitcoin was introduced, Steem is poised to dramatically increase the user-adoption rate of cryptocurrencies. That's good not just for us, but for Bitcoin users, for Dash users, for XEM users, for Maidsafe users and the entire altsphere in general. Because as the transactions fill up in the Bitcoin blockchain, from people looking to convert to cash, these other less bloated and more agile blockchain technologies will be able to relieve the pressure and increase their own growth. Thus Steem will provide the use-case for cryptos, the killer-app that brings it to the masses.
## The Implications of Steem
Steem is bringing attention to a simmering world that is poised for growth but lacking the necessary catalyst to begin that growth. With Steem we are just beginning to finally break the chains that lock us to a corrupt financial and governmental system. There have been many entries in this space that have innovated on the traditional methods of 'doing business'. The first and most obvious would be Bitcoin itself, giving individuals power of their finances and control over their money. The next most obvious would be Dash, a cryptocurrency that adds privacy and anonymity to the network by default, while also achieving a first in its decentralized governance system. Thus innovating and building on the original premise of Bitcoin, while maintaining all of its benefits, such as self-control over one's finances. The governmental system Dash adds also allows for operators of masternodes, the nodes that do the currency mixing to allow anonymity, to vote on changes to the network and to allocate the monthly Dash budget. This way they can pay for developers, advertising, and other things necessary to improving the Dash network. These are features that Bitcoin is lacking and sorely in need of, as the last 6 months of hand-wringing over the completely trivial blocksize debate has shown us.

Other offerings, like Maidsafe, are also very promising, but they still need some time before they're finalized and ready to be released to the wild. Maidsafe promises a decentralized internet, which should also be quite disruptive, even moreso than Steem. And then you have Steem itself. Finally, a monetization model for the little guy. If you didn't get in on Bitcoin at the beginning, you certainly can't make a decent living off of mining now. But if you get on the Steem train now or later, you will be able to make actual cash to pay for things like food, or rent. This is a pivotal moment in the history of Western societies. Never before has the creation and distribution of money been in the hands of the people. It has always been at the behest of centralized authorities and large corporations like governments and banks. Entities which had and still have a vested interest in stealing from the common man via the stealth tax of inflation, along with other more visible taxes. 

The rapid growth of Steem portends a future where cryptocurrencies are mainstream and fun. For years now Bitcoin, Dash, XEM and other currencies have offered innovative solutions to the problems we face in the financial and governmental world, and yet they have languished unused and unloved. Most people still have not even heard of Bitcoin, and of those that have they have little reason to use it. But now, with Steem, you can post content, vote on it and get PAID. Anyone can do that. Which means that the barrier to entry is quite low and the return on investment quite high. This is unique in the cryptosphere. Like I mentioned, unless you've got thousands of spare cash lying around for mining hardware, that boat has sailed and you missed it. But with Steem, we have a real chance to get the everyday guy onto crypto and off fiat. All aboard!

Keep Calm and Steem On!