Start reading ALL of the articles here: https://steemit.com/trending/bitshares

There is serious development building upon BitShares blockchain from outside businesses.  Do some research, you will see BitShares is a platform, not just a token.


Quick examples:

https://steemit.com/bitshares/@stan/hollywood-heros
https://steemit.com/bitshares/@stan/bitshares-hit-by-cat-5-miracle-of-heroic-proportions
https://steemit.com/bitshares/@stan/using-bitshares-to-underwrite-risky-asset-backed-currencies

nice weekly updates:
https://steemit.com/bitshares/@steempower/bitshares-state-of-the-network-6th-june-2017

Dan's interview about EOS which also covers quite a big of BitShares and Steem.
https://youtu.be/K6uR0A9cC5Y

Growth over the years:
http://cryptofresh.com/charts (this page takes awhile to load)


It's quite nice for a decentralized exchange/platform etc...  Think about OpenLedger how they flipped the exchange market to simply becoming a gateway and earning $$$.  https://openledger.info/