Hey @erb! Well, as I mentioned I really don't know how many are waiting... hopefully it's a lot! To your question... Steemit used to give out Steem Power directly to new accounts. But now they actually delegate ~15 SP to each new user and then take it back after a few months (once that user accumulates enough SP of their own to perform basic actions on the platform).
Back in the old days - there was a lot of concern over abuse. (Though each new account is vetted / forced to provide a phone number and email etc.) Luckily long onboarding and delegation resolves some risk. Anyway, it's a huge cost on behalf of Steemit Inc! Time wise and cost wise. Ultimately, this platform is super exclusive. Let's celebrate it!