If one of the whales was to face the regulations necessary to set up a fiat to Steem pathway, mitigating the risks due to ignorance and human error, it would set a new bar for blockchains. Seems to me that projects are tied to Bitcoin (and to a lesser extent Ethereum and Litecoin) as one has to purchase those first to then trade for the Steem.

Making entry (which was Dan Larimers vision) easier is a huge marketing step. Make it mass friendly and the masses will come.