As Hive celebrates its one-year anniversary since the Hard Fork, it is time to create a new post about Hive. For one, there is so much information available now that wasn't available a year ago. Two, the Hive Eco-system has grown rapidly, with more dapps (What is that? We'll get into that in a second), communities, games and other opportunities than ever before. Third, I'm inviting a lot of new people to join. So, I feel responsible to give a proper introduction.
$Hive is a cryptocurrency connected to the Hive ecosystem. This ecosystem is built on blockchain technology.
- If you are new to the blockchain, consider learning a little more about it here.
- If you want to learn more about the Hive ecosystem, on which exchanges Hive is listed, which dapps and communities are on Hive, you can read about it here.
* Ok, so in short: a dapp is a decentralized app, meaning it is an app connected to the Hive ecosystem, but not owned by Hive itself.
If you are new to the crypto world, you might have only heard of Bitcoin, maybe Ethereum. A little more, you've probably heard of Cardano, Ripple, LiteCoin and DogeCoin. If you are 'into' crypto and you've never owned any of the cryptocurrencies I just mentioned, but you own 'another crypto' which has been sold to you as 'the next bitcoin', please seek help from true blockchain experts to validate wether or not it is an actual cryptocurrency or you might have been enrolled to an MLM scam.
As we speak, there are close to 9.000 cryptocurrencies listed on Coinmarketcap and 6.500 on Coingecko. All with the own distinctive use, their own white-paper and there own community. But what makes Hive different?
1. Hive is Decentralized
It is truly decentralized, this means there is no company that secretly owns the majority of all Hive available. It is said that the largest Hive owner owns less than 3% of the total market cap. Meaning it is decentralized also means there is no CEO, no one person who makes the end decision. If you are a bit of a geek like myself, you might find this an interesting origin story. Last but least, being decentralized means there is no company that is censoring you if your views don't align with 'the industry standard'.
2. Earn while you create
There are multiple dapps (both mobile applications, web applications) that are using the platform, including blogging and engagement apps. Meaning you can actually earn crypto by creating content. You get to decide which website/app you want to use yourself. So, you can start on Hive with 0 investment and earn by posting original content. Do note that original content is a very important aspect. So, if you copy/paste you will get caught, called out, and most likely get labeled for plagiarism. But, the great news remains, there is no buy-in. All you need to invest is your time. There are many communities from freewriting, to make-up, travel, natural medicine, finance, photography and marketing, which you can instantly join and meet people from all over the world with similar interests as you have. You know, what social media is actually meant for.
3. Crypto gaming
The Hive ecosystem is home to the number 1 crypto game of 2020 in the whole world. Yes, you read that correctly. Splinterlands got a lot of international attention and is directly connected to the Hive eco-system. But there are many other games on the eco-system, including Lucksacks Poker, Crypto Brewmaster, DCity, Rabona and Rising Star. It is important to know that these are games and games that traditionally costs money, so please don't jump in with the idea that a game is going to make you rich. That being said, if you are exceptionally good at gaming, we live in an age that you do get rewarded for that as well.
4. NFT Art
It is worth noting that game cards of the crypto games I just mentioned are also considered NFTs, but let's know talk about NFT Art. When it comes to NFT Art, Ethereum is by far the biggest Art Network. Hive might not be as big but has one major advantage. There are no GAS fees! Selling your NFT Art on NFTShowroom gives you the opportunity to sell and collect art without high costs.
Visit nftshowroom.com/ to learn more about selling and collecting NFT art on Hive.
* An NFT is a non-fungible token, a unique digital item of which there can only be one. Read more about it here.
5. Fast. Scalable. Powerful.
Compared to Bitcoin and even Ethereum, Hive transactions are fast. I'd like to say instant. Transactions on the Hive eco-system take around 3 seconds to process and on the platform itself, there are no transaction costs. Even when you transfer Hive on exchanges, the fees connected are only a fraction of what is paid.
According to Coinmarketcap, 1 HIVE was valued at $0.11 on December 24, 2020, and is valued at $0.61 on March 24, 2021. That's quite a difference of course. If you want an up-to-date view on the Hive price, you can check it on Coinmarketcap (here) or Coingecko (here).
I'm not in a position for you to decide when you should cash your Hive and when not to. This post is not financial advice. But it would make sense not to sell your Hive for less than you bought it. If you invest in Hive, you will most likely also learn how to stake your Hive and why you should do it. You will also learn about second-layer tokens and community tokens. Whether you want to trade or invest your Hive earned is up to you. In the ideal world, you wouldn't have to trade your Hive, because you'd actually use it to pay for stuff as well. E-Commerce for Hive is actually being set up, with projects as HivePay and the Woocommerce Hive Payment Method, this could be more common in the future.
Head on over to https://hiveonboard.com?ref=jeanlucsr to create your account. Yes, this is a referral link and the standard-setting includes a 3% kickback to me. I'm being transparent about it and I want you to know that you can remove that 3% if it makes you uncomfortable. I'm purposefully not hiding the referral part of the link so you know this in advance. It is not mandatory and I won't take it personally if you decide to remove it.
You will get a username which you can decide on yourself and you'll get your keys/password.
PLEASE DON'T LOSE YOUR KEYS!
I can't stress the importance of this. As mentioned earlier, Hive is fully decentralized, which means there is no company/organization you can turn towards to do a password reset.
Your keys have the following rules:
Master Key/Password: The most important one. Give it to no one and don't you dare ever lose them.
Owner Key: You can use this for everything you do, including managing your wallet for transactions and making changes to your account.
Active Key: The most useful one when it comes to connecting dapps, after which you can log in to post.
Posting Key: The key specifically for posting, commenting and upvoting.
With your keys, you can log in to any dapp on the Hive ecosystem. When you've done that for the first time, feel free to send 0.001 HIVE to Username 
A little more info:
If you are starting out, here are some more links you might find of use.
My personal Newbees Digests:
001 - @jeanlucsr/hive-newbees-digest-001-welcome-to-hive
002 - @jeanlucsr/hive-newbees-digest-002-getting-engaged
003 - @jeanlucsr/hive-newbees-digest-003-investing-in-the-blockchain
And two more awesome links if you really want to rock it on Hive.
New to #Hive?
Check out @Jon_G_Olson's The Hive Guide here:https://t.co/7jjuSe1RuV
Check out @khalkaz's Complete Guide to the Hive Blockchain here:https://t.co/pWxrgZmITd
Consider it required reading.
After that, find your tribe.#HiveChat— Jean-luc van Charante (@JeanlucSR) March 23, 2021
Good luck and see you on Hive!
#lobi
This post was originally posted on jeanluc.sr/welcome-to-hive. For some reason, it didn't automatically post on Hive, so it was manually posted on Hive.
