This is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure how actually practical it is.

The idea of integrating STEEM as a currency of attention across a broader swath of the web is intriguing. I would definitely be in favor of supporting that kind of integration for an attention economy. I would be less excited about being as obvious about a deliberate tie between STEEM and dollar values, as that seems to make the analogy a little bit too on the nose. Just the raw number of STEEM involved or no value displayed there at all other than the number of votes would seem to be the right level of disassociation.

I doubt it's likely to translate into early adopters ending up with fat wads of cash. You're absolutely right that increased rarity increases value, and STEEM is definitely a commodity more than it is an actual currency. That's how such things work. But given the rate of built-in inflation (and the fact that it is theoretically adjustable) along with a vast number of new players on the blockchain as a result of using it as a multisite attention economy mechanism, my suspicion is that those holders of some degree of STEEM wealth aren't suddenly going to become magnates.