[Source](Photo by NASA on Unsplash)
Hey Everyone! I'm back with another picture to paint on a Friday. The weekend is here and it's time to relax a little and think about a "what if" scenario.
I was reading through #threads and articles yesterday about all of the building being done on Hive right now. We all know that the new UI for LeoThreads is being launched in a few days and based on the latest AMA, it will not be anywhere near completion when released. In fact, there will continue to be updates and new features added on a regular basis as the Alpha version goes through the stress test of a few hundred live users. In other words, there will continue to be constant building on LeoFinance.
In reading through blocktrades most recent article, there will also continue to be constant building on Hive as well. The most exciting (and probably the most impactful) will be developing apps for HAF, including a "HAF-based smart contract processing engine".
Work out schedule for creation of various HAF-based applications (most important one here will be a HAF-based smart contract processing engine).
I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be, very computer-savvy. My coding knowledge is non-existent and I'm barely able to follow along when people start talking about how to do things online. That said, I do usually grasp the ramifications of what things can mean from a big-picture perspective. This could be absolutely huge for Hive. HAF is the system that allows developers to build things on Hive without having to worry about interacting with the blockchain. They can code in their "native" language and HAF will take care of the getting-it-to-work-with-Hive part. That may be an oversimplification, but that's how I understand it.
Based on that understanding, having a smart contract engine built into the equation shoves the door wide open for outside devs to join Hive and start building their own apps on top of it. People have been calling for smart contracts on Hive since inception, if not before. This looks like the year it may finally arrive.
All of this got me thinking of a crazy scenario. We all know that there are market cycles in almost anything. There are bear markets and bull markets, hot markets, cold markets, stagnant markets, volatile markets, and everything in between. Bitcoin has dragged the crypto markets with it wherever it goes. When it runs, everything runs with it. When it dives, the rest of crypto crashes too. Right now we are (hopefully) in the final stages of the most recent bear market and are looking to start another bull. The "halvening" is a little over a year away and that has typically been a fairly accurate indicator of when the bull will begin.
So at some point in the next year, things could really start running again. Bitcoin could approach old all-time highs and potentially shatter them. There are forecasts for $250k Bitcoin. Who knows if those will happen or not, but I wouldn't bet against it. Mass adoption has never been so close and AI may be on the forefront of this market cycle and could lead us almost anywhere.
If and when that happens, chances are Hive will go along for the ride. At least to a certain degree. Hive has been interesting because it is fairly decoupled from the crypto markets as a whole. My theory as to why that's the case is that Hive is not nearly as tied to Bitcoin as the rest of the cryptos out there. There are really only a couple major exchanges that do much volume in Hive. Upbit in Korea, and Binance. Otherwise, the rest of the volume seems to be done here on Hive-Engine. Because of that, Hive doesn't get quite the same "pull" from the markets completely paired with Bitcoin. Personally, I think that's a good thing. I believe it will ultimately mean that Hive may not suffer the same volatility in the long run that other cryptos do.
That's really not here nor there for this article. Just my thoughts. Moving on...
As these developments continue to add to the Hive ecosystem, I think there will be more and more users coming to this platform. Here they will discover "free" transactions along with multiple bridges to other chains. They will be able to earn tokens by participating in the community and #threading on LeoFinance, as well as play games, post videos, etc.
So, back to my "crazy scenario".
What if the next time Hive runs......it doesn't come back down?
I mean, seriously, think about it. What if Bitcoin and the bull market drag all of crypto up, Hive included, and then as the next bear market approaches, Hive just stays there? Or even keeps going?
We're probably talking two years from now until we see another bear market. By that time, LeoThreads could be onboarding users by the dozens or even hundreds. Smart-contracts could be being added on a regular basis by new developers attracted to the fast, easy, and free transactions the Hive blockchain offers and they could be adding hundreds of users as well.
We all are of the mindset that Hive is worth much more than the price of the token right now. What if Hive goes to $10 during the next run and just stays there as the rest of the crypto markets get dragged back down by a falling Bitcoin?
This isn't an unprecedented thought. All you have to do is look at Bitcoin and a few of the other so-called "Blue-Chip" cryptos. Each time Bitcoin has run it has made higher highs, and when it has dropped, it has made higher lows. Hive has been behind in price as far as I'm concerned. It really shouldn't be trading where it is right now. Once it breaks out, I see no reason for it not to stay at much higher levels. The tech is there. If this next run brings thousands more users, then they will be there as well.
Throw in the fact that Hive is decentralized, secure, fast, free, and immutable and you have the makings of exactly what the world needs right now. The next bull run will probably push the entire crypto market over $5T in market cap. Hive at $10 is $3-$4B. That's not even 1% and it may very possibly be the best blockchain in existence.
Anyway, like I said, that question just popped into my mind as I was reading about what is taking place on Hive and LeoFinance. We are literally light-years ahead of where we were just two short years ago. Who knows where we'll be in another two years, but you can bet the changes will be dramatic again.
What if Hive breaks out....and just keeps going? Fun to think about and maybe not so farfetched as it may seem.
Hive is the Way.
