We are at the very beginning!

[When something so fundamentally ground shaking comes along once every 500 years](https://steemit.com/liberty/@falkvinge/it-was-never-about-capitalism-vs-communism-it-was-always-about-centralized-vs-decentralized), it doesn't get implemented overnight. Those down in the weeds, those having heard about Bitcoin in 2010 and watched every painful paint chip story like Mt Gox, we sometimes need to be reminded of where we really are in this New Experiment (or new paradigm, or new World Order?). A lot of folks will read @falkvinge's post and ask, well, I agree with the premise, but why and how does this work for me and what do I need to do? The answer is take a deep breath, because we are at the beginning, and there's a lot of greenwater in front of us: http://i.imgur.com/YN1GAp9.png So you might be looking at this and thinking, um, gee whiz @kewpiedoll, I have to wait until 2023 in your prediction model to kick this into high gear? But no, look at the scale, which is in trillions of dollars. Here, "$5,000" ***= five quadrillion dollars.*** *If you're drinking the decentralized crypto kool-aid (like I am), these are the kinds of upside numbers that you're looking at. **That's what @falkvinge's post meant to me.***

But let me show you what that graph looks on a log scale:

http://i.imgur.com/Z8whtbR.png This shows you more clearly where we are really at, about $12B in total market cap (bitcoin + alts), or $0.012T. We are at the very beginning of this little decentralized experiment we call BlockChain Technology. Steem is part of that new paradigm. If you're new to this, welcome. If you're not, be patient. And just look at that curve to date. you can even see the "mania" price run-up in the end of 2013 that nearly flattens out to the rest of the log curve (these will happen, along with dips, it's just the nature of the beast).

Let me explain

At the beginning of 2011, Bitcoin was really the only game in town, the first cryptocurrency that showed us what it was all about (and that it worked, and worked well). In January it was [worth $1.5M](http://www.coindesk.com/data/bitcoin-market-capitalization/). By 2013, alts like Litecoin and Ripple began to appear. In the end of 2015 we saw Ethereum and very recently Steem make a charge. Bitcoin showed us what was possible, but the Blockchain revolution will be many different projects. If you read about [that guy somewhere](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/09/bitcoin-forgotten-currency-norway-oslo-home) that bought 5000 bitcoins in 2009 for $27 and forgot about them (now worth $3M) and say to yourself, well good for him but too bad for me, the shows over. I don't think that assessment could be any further from the truth. I'm not saying you're going to be rich, but I **might** be able to say to you:

You're going to be rich

Why? Because I don't really give a shit. You can have your opinions and I can have mine. **But I believe in this decentralized paradigm, that's it's real, it's coming to a theater near you, and it's currently the size of pinhead and it'll eventually be the size of the moon.** *Granted these are just my opinions and anything could happen in the future, including the relatively low probability that cryptos go absolutely nowhere.* But with 4,5, maybe even 6 orders of magnitude on the table, is it really worth not paying attention? I mean, even just a little. Five orders of magnitude means $10 becomes a million. Steemit gives you $10 just for signing up. you don't even risk anything. There's a fair amount written on different investment strategies and blockchain projects. Probably more to the imperative now is being aware of what's out there than trying to get large amounts into each project. [I have previously written my two cents on crypto investing here](https://steemit.com/investment/@kewpiedoll/why-i-like-crypto-s-as-part-of-complete-breakfast). [albensilverberg's recent post](https://steemit.com/investing/@albensilverberg/card-counting-investing-and-taking-advantage-of-asymmetry) suggested Synero, Vericoin, Steem, and Factom. I appreciate these types of suggestions and each person's decisions to get involved with any coin / project is their own (hence the decentralized nature -- coming full circle on this aren't we!!). I'd add Rubycoin and Solarcoin for now. There's a lot of others, and they'll keep popping up out of the ether as we move forward (no pun intended?). Happy hunting, and keep quenching that thirst with copious amounts of Kool-aid. You need a lot of it in Crypto Land. Cheers, QP doll