**Metcalfe's Law** is a law attributed to Robert Metcalfe (co-inventor of Ethernet), and it states that:

https://res.cloudinary.com/hpiynhbhq/image/upload/v1514334831/dw6yyl8l5tvjik1vryvm.png (source)

> The value of a communications network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system.
In layman's terms, you can think of it like this (using telephone companies as an example): * 2 telephones can only make **1 connection** * 5 telephones can make **10 connections** * 12 telephones can make **66 connections** You can see how in the beginning, with a very low amount of users, the system has relatively _low value_. _However,_ as the number of users of the network increases, the number of possible connections **exponentially** gets larger and larger, and thus the total value of the system increases. This law has been used a countless number of times to quantify the value of telecommunications networks, social networks, media companies, fax systems, and the entire Internet. Why not use it on Steem as well? According to [SteemDB](https://steemdb.com), Steem has **over 95,000 users** with a reputation of _at least_ 26. This is about _0.1 million_ users who have posted and gotten upvoted past the starting reputation. Ignoring the reputation condition, Steem has **about half a million** _accounts._ Steem also has **much more activity** (transactions) than other blockchains: ![image.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/hpiynhbhq/image/upload/v1514336218/hkghjhl8fgckmsemlgla.png) (source) You can clearly see how Steem is number one when it comes to transaction throughput. By the way, Steem is rocking a million transactions at _0.09%_ of its total possible network capacity, while Ethereum is handling less than that at 47% of its capacity, and Bitcoin is barely chugging through at 100% capacity (plus over a hundred thousand unconfirmed transactions). Clearly, Steem has more users and _much_ more transaction activity than many other blockchains. Additionally, the platform ticks many boxes for a valuable cryptocurrency, with: * an active developer team * constantly evolving/updating platform * high scalability * usefulness Steemit is the only place you can _reliably, easily and quickly_ be paid to write articles, post pictures, and share anything in between. https://res.cloudinary.com/hpiynhbhq/image/upload/v1514337327/moevarnexl6amxo24azq.png (source) Over the course of the past year, Steem has grown by over 1965% (over **20x**) in value. By comparison, Bitcoin has grown by under 1566%, meaning that in the past year, Steem has actually already been a _better investment_ than Bitcoin. We have a lot of growth left to do, but already it seems that Steem has a lot of value and unlocked potential. Let's take Steem to the top of the charts in 2018. ----- Thanks for reading, — @mooncryption