I am always leary when I see percentages like that thrown around. I'm not saying steem will rise in value to that degree, but the number of users on this platform will rise by that percentage or more. That of course will bring steem to unimaginable heights. I didn't pull this number out of my ass either, but rather tried putting together a pretty reliable estimate based on a number of factors.

https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://s16.postimg.io/lfw2itelx/steemit_growing_again.png

### Other Medias

**Reddit:** 234 Million unique monthly users
**Youtube:** 1 Billion unique monthly users
**Instagram** 800 Million monthly users
*All are growing also*

**Steemit:** Exact numbers can be tougher to pin down, but pooling from multiple sources, @arcange does a great job with stats. Really informative and though I recommend to check it out and follow. 
https://steemit.com/statistics/@arcange/steemit-statistics-20180114-en


#### 150,000 active users a month (that is generous)

That is so peanuts compared to Steemit's social media counterparts. 
*I choose those to compare, because Steemit is a hub for photography, we have @dtube and are structured similar to Reddit*

- 156,000% less then Reddit
- 666,000% Less then Youtube
- 530,000% Less then Instagram

Those numbers are tough to fathom, but we are in a bubble here and can get caught up in it. Forgetting how small we are and how much growth will come. After the next decade, the user base on this platform will continue to explode. I see much more then 30,000%. That is just my conservative estimate. It will likely be greater. Let's look at adoption of new technologies over time.

https://marketrealist.imgix.net/uploads/2015/06/technology-adoption-rates11111111.png?w=660&fit=max&auto=format
*Our world continues to change faster and faster*

Why else am I so confident that we will hit 30,000%? Because Steemit is a one stop shop where you earn for interacting and posting. Of course the rewards are pennies at first and your vote is insignificant, but think about the money raked in by those large companies. It is estimated YouTube makes google 10-15 billion a year and rising. **A Year!! It makes 10 times what Steem is worth**.  But yet people who interact on the platform don't get a dime, and creators have seen their revenues streams decreasing. 

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R2LjhOSoMxc/maxresdefault.jpg


I watch @davidpakman a fair amount and saw him struggle with Youtube and then Patreon. It was putting serious financial strain on this show and then he moved here. Steemit was the financial crutch his show needed and I would bet all my crypto that in years down the road, it will be his main source of revenue. It is incredible that a platform where he has 100 times less subscribers is able to provide ample compensation for his work and speaks to the revolutionary distribution of money on this platform.

#### Mid Post Rant

I sometimes see people becoming upset or complaining about how much the whales and witnesses make here. How much do you think YouTube executives make? How much do the software developers, maintenance individuals, sectaries, lawyers, buildings cost? There is such an expensive ecosystem to keep Google, YouTube, and Instagram running and we have no idea what these people make. Yet here we can see everyone's transactions and wallets are transparent, which is amazing in and of itself. But, if you think they are overcompensated, think again. I have seen the passion and work this community has done and they should be reward generously because there will be many more challenges to come. Likewise, as this platform grows, the role of maintaining it will become more and more crucial. Sure the whales now will make more money then they know what to do with, but having this media decentralized distributes monetary reward, ten fold better then a traditional company.

.......Okay, done.


Here is something else to think about. I remember when I signed up and got half a steem token, free! I'm sure that was similar to a lot of people.

240 million steem available today with inflation, (extremely rough estimate because the inflation rate in steem decreases, but for sake of calculation we will use a little less then 10%) That means there will be approx 500 million steem in 10 years. say we gain by 100 million users in that frame. That is 50 million steem What would that demand, not even including people investing or speculating on the token, do to the price? 
*Now, I doubt Steemit will continue to do that once millions join the platform, but even if half of a a new user base of 100 million wants to hold at least 1 steem?*


# Adoption 
### Crypto adoption will happen in a similar curve to this

https://www.ovrdrv.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/sns-by-age-over-time.jpg

Adoption of crypto will happen at a similar curve to this. RIGHT NOW WE DON'T EVEN REGISTER ON THE CHART! Generous estimates place the percentage of U.S. citizens that own crypto currency at 1%, the world even less. Adoption is minuscule right now and that is the biggest hurdle crypto faces. Like the internet, it was slow at first. Tech minded and worldly people trickled in from 1995-2005 and then it began to take hold. Sound like a familiar community(; ? Once the ball got rolling the growth was contagious and hence where was are today with social media. 

What further helps Steem is that Steemit is a social media platform first. You don't need to understand cryto or even like the concept to use this platform. This will help boost adoption of this platform even more then cryptocurrency itself.

## Another example why this platform and steem is undervalued and slight RaiBlock rant

The speculation for some of the products out there in the crypto space has gotten out of control and has lost all rational.

Seen RaiBlocks pump recently?

![raiblocks.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmV3wk4tsjLy389af3wo4A7rD4q38F8dzjZFn4Y9TriqKQ/raiblocks.png)

Now RaiBlocks gives each wallet its own blockchain which allows for super fast transactions and uses similar technology to IOTA's tangle. The project seems to have good technology and I wish it the best, but people are touting it as the next Bitcoin! Are you kidding me!? Let's first recognize that this network has never been truly tested and has not had a proven track record. What about Adoption? The brand name of Bitcoin and all the places that already accept it are just going to drop it and use RaiBlocks? Every big thing has to start somewhere, but never do I see this project gaining enough traction to overthrow Bitcoin. People are saying, well it is so fast, better specs always win. History does not support this, branding overwhelming beats specs and Bitcoin has a 500 fold more recognized brand then RaiBlocks.

And if we were going by speed STEEM SHOULD HAVE THE HIGHEST PRICE ON THE BLOODY MARKET!!
![transactions.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVsN1zK5CbdDbYr1bbK7siARgV3p1R7oR91tRJ3GEwhGT/transactions.png)

It's not even breaking a sweet! How that is being overlooked? I don't know. So much hype about transaction speed and Steem crushes everything. The scale, the speed, is unmatched except for bitshares, but I am probably preaching to the choir here.  How, how people overlook this platform and token I will never know, but what I do know is I will always believe in this place and I don't care if the price goes down to pennies, I will continue to slowly buy steem and power up.

# Conclusion

If Steemit grows by 30,000% we will have 15 million daily users. That would be approx 30-40 times smaller then Reddit will be at that time (given Reddit will continue on its' growth trajectory). Can you fathom that Steemit will not exceed that mark in 10 years, given that we have Dtube, Dlive, and such other amazing communities, and platforms to come?
**No Fu##cking way** It will probably blow my prediction and many others out of the water. 

And yes all you statistic nuts, I correlated some stats here that do not prove causation. Simply because Internet use, social media use, cryptocurrency use have all and will continue to see unparalleled increase, does not inherently prove that a platform that employs all three will grow........ but we are may times the critical value needed for the T-test. 

Sometimes it can be really hard to recognize where you are in the middle of a movement. Sometimes growth seems so slow and progress comes in small increments, but time and patience will reward us. 

This is for all the fellow minnows  and slightly bigger fish that put real effort their posts and get frustrated about up votes or views. Try to remember what is now will not be forever. Love the community, love your content, and implore patience and getting on steemit will be the best decision you ever made in the crypto world.

Steem on my friends!

Also shoutout to all the users who's posts I used to compile some of this data
@aftabkhan10 @archange I remember pulling from one more, but I can't for the life of me find who it was, so thanks mystery contributor.