Steeminvite is back up too. So now there are at least three ways to sign up: through Steemit, Steeminvite, and Blocktrades. Possibly more that I’m not aware of. Of course only the Steemit option is “free” from a noob’s point of view, so automating signups through Steemit should really help out growth of account numbers.
I expect a lot of free publicity when we pass a million. Journalists love round numbers.
I am not a journalist but I believe I will write a post when we pass 1M....
Just a hunch.