I've been on Hive for a few weeks now, and in that time, I've learned a great deal about how the platform works and how I can make the most of it.
I have an existing presence as a writer on Web2, where I rely on subscriber and donor models to get compensated for my writing. But through experience, I've identified a few key issues that limit my ability to thrive there.
Different spaces have different interests and are disconnected. An audience in one space doesn't translate to the algorithmic clout necessary to be seen in another. Changing sensibilities mean spaces that were once popular can empty out around me, or I end up having to stay in spaces I don't like because that's where my audience is. And if I decide to focus on non-Web work, my account can get deactivated, and my writing deleted.
Hive, as a content blockchain, has mechanisms that can potentially address these issues. By keeping content on-chain, I reduce the risk of my writing falling victim to the datarot that's become endemic to Web2. The tokenization—controversial to many for its image as a speculative investment—actually helps me avoid getting overly invested in any single space.
Importantly, posts can include modals linking to those Web2 subscription/donor platforms, so I don't risk losing out on contributions from people who aren't part of Web3.
Hive isn't just a way for me to publish my writing as a personal blog. There are topical communities and hashtags, allowing me to reach a diverse audience and interact with others sharing similar interests. These features make Hive more than a platform; it's a dynamic space for collaboration and growth.
Hive operates on two main tokens: $HIVE and $HBD.
$HIVE is a liquid token, meaning it can be easily transferred between accounts, traded on exchanges, or used within the Hive ecosystem. While liquid $HIVE is versatile, it gains additional utility when "staked" as Hive Power (HP). Staking converts $HIVE into HP, which increases a user’s voting weight for content curation and their influence in the ecosystem. More HP also allows for higher curation rewards and greater support for other users through upvotes. HP also appreciates - at a default rate of 2.85%, though this can go as high as 13% with active curation.
$HBD (Hive Backed Dollars) is a stablecoin pegged to the value of 1 USD. It offers stability in the volatile cryptocurrency market, making it an attractive option for savings or transactions. Users can stake $HBD to earn an APR of 15%, providing a reliable return that balances the ecosystem's high-yield opportunities.
Hive’s rewards system enables users to earn payouts in both Hive Power and $HBD directly to their wallets through activities like posting, commenting, and curating. This structure incentivizes active participation and creates tangible benefits for contributing to the platform.
Curation rewards, for instance, are earned when users upvote content. The rewards are split 50/50 between the content creator and curators, who receive their share based on voting weight. Voting weight is directly tied to the amount of HP a user holds. The more HP a user has staked, the greater their influence and the larger their share of curation rewards. By curating content, users not only support others but also actively grow their own stake in the platform, creating a mutually beneficial cycle. The platform also features Hive Engine, which expands on this system with additional tokens.
Some tokens are rewarded for:
Using specific hashtags. For example, using the #cent hashtag in a post or comment may earn $CENT tokens.
Posting in particular communities. For instance, posting in the WeAreAlive community can earn $ALIVE tokens.
Using certain frontends, such as InLeo, which rewards users with $LEO.
Participating in blockchain-integrated games (a concept known as GameFi). For example, playing Terracore earns $SCRAP, which is used for in-game upgrades.
Other tokens facilitate community support, enabling pooled resources and reciprocal support across groups. Additionally, there are meme tokens, which add a layer of fun to the ecosystem. A built-in market allows Hive members to swap these tokens, making it easy to diversify one’s holdings.
This token-based structure also provides me with the flexibility to adapt my stake as my interests or priorities change. Since all tokens on Hive can be swapped for $HIVE through decentralized exchanges, I can move my stake from communities or tokens I no longer wish to support into ones that align with my current goals. For example, if I decide to shift focus from financial topics to ecological content, I can convert staked $LEO into $HIVE and reinvest that into $ALIVE or similar tokens. This ability to reallocate my stake ensures that my involvement in Hive remains aligned with my evolving interests and values, without being trapped in any particular space.
By using Hive as both a publishing and community platform, I’m naturally developing a stake in the platform and its communities. Stake on Hive is different from clout in Web2. While clout comes from secret algorithms that bias content based on the content host's preferences, stake on Hive is tangible and tied to the value one contributes to and derives from the network, as determined by the network.
Without active management, my rewards would appreciate or remain stable depending on their form:
HP generates curation rewards with variable APR.
HBD offers stability.
Other tokens might either appreciate in value or remain static.
However, with active management, the results can be more strategic and aligned with my goals.
The simplest management strategy is staking HBD for passive returns. APR on staked HBD is currently 15%. Since HP and HBD each make up half the curation rewards, staking all my HBD would result in a portfolio APR of 8.925%
Alternatively, I can trade HBD for HIVE and stake it as HP, adding to my curation weight. This would mean my portfolio has an APR of 2.85%, but would let me gain more through active engagement.
I can also exchange HBD for other tokens through Hive’s decentralized exchanges, diversifying out across Hive's ecosystem.
I plan to do a little bit of each.
It doesn't go without saying, a critical part of my strategy is to use the most appropriate communities and tags for all my posts and comments. I've written about that part of things in another post.
As an active publisher and curator, my primary goal is to increase my HP. This can be done by publishing and curating effectively. Additionally, I plan to allocate 10% of my HBD earnings to HIVE and stake it as HP, essentially shifting my payout ratio from 50/50 to 60/40. Compared to staking all my HBD, this lowers my portfolio APR, from 8.925% to 7.71%.
I want my HP to increase quickly so I can "delegate" it to friends who decide to join Hive after seeing me here. Delegation temporarily transfers voting power to another account without relinquishing ownership. If delegated HP is used for curation, the recipient earns the curation rewards—not the person who delegated the HP. This makes delegation a great way for newcomers to get started without purchasing HIVE.
Thanks to services like HiveVote, friends and followers can set themselves up to automatically vote for my posts, meaning that HP delegated to them can end up increasing my rewards through publishing, even if I’m not curating myself.
Out of the remaining 40% of my engagement rewards, I’ll use 5% of my HBD to purchase and stake DBOND tokens. DBOND is the miner token for DAB, which is backed 1:1 by HIVE. Miner tokens like DBOND enable holders to participate in earning rewards from a pool, often with specific mechanisms like lotteries or proportional payouts. DBOND’s average APR is 15%, paid out as DAB. The DAB Treasury, the team operating DBOND and DAB, offer daily payments: HIVE for holding liquid DAB, and DBOND for holding staked DAB. The Dab Treasury aims for a 12% APR. By staking by DAB each day after I receive it, the effective annualized return increases to approximately 16.1%. As a 5% share of my revenue, this will increase my portfolio APR by 0.805%, for a total portfolio APR of 8.515%.
Another 10% of my HBD will go toward purchasing and staking WORKERBEE. WORKERBEE is the miner token for BEE, which is used for Hive Engine. I plan to sell the BEE I mine for HIVE and use it to buy more WORKERBEE. Given the growing demand for Hive Engine, this approach helps support Hive’s broader ecosystem. On average, WORKERBEE mining has an estimated 8% APR, and compounding this daily would result in an effective annualized return of around 8.3%. Mining pools, such as NeoxianMiner, allow me to delegate staked WORKERBEE for more consistent payouts. This simplifies the process and ensures steady returns, working out to approximately a 0.83% increase in portfolio APR, for a total portfolio APR of 9.345%
Of the 25% of my liquid HBD income unallocated, 15% will be spread across three yield tokens.
I’ve been watching the growth of memecoins in 2024 and think that trend will accelerate through 2025. The YOLO token is a way for me to support that growth. The team behind YOLO is using funds from selling the token to build a diversified portfolio of meme tokens, enabling me to gain exposure to this trend without managing individual memecoins. Staked YOLO pays 3% returns in liquid YOLO daily, which I plan to continue staking. This daily compounding translates to an annualized effective APR of approximately 2,678%, reflecting the explosive potential of memecoins when managed actively. However, as YOLO represents only 5% of my allocation, the increase to my portfolio APR is only 133.9%. But, this makes my total portfolio APR 143.245%.
The same team created DRIP, which operates similarly but focuses on GameFi tokens, and offers a 0.25% daily return. When compounded daily, this results in an annualized effective APR of about 113%. Since I’ve been enjoying Web3 games like Terracore and Rise of the Pixels, DRIP allows me to target some of my stake toward this growing field. Putting 5% of my liquid HBD into DRIP increases my APR by approximately 5.65%, bringing the total portfolio APR to 148.895%.
The third yield token I’m investing in is BBH, Bitcoin Backed Hive. BBH pays out a variety of tokens, typically representing different Hive communities. Unlike YOLO and DRIP, which pay in their own tokens, BBH’s diversified payouts help me engage with multiple communities. Additionally, BBH is a tip token, which means it can be used to extend curation rewards. Both the sender and recipient of a BBH tip receive tokens, fostering mutual support. All this makes it hard to tell what the returns on BBH will be, but because it doesn't pay BBH, it isn't self-compounding the way the other two are.
The remaining 10% of my HBD will be staked in savings, with that 15% APR returns being what I'll consider my actual personal income from Hive.
HP: 10% of HBD converted and staked immediately to increase curation weight and provide for delegation.
DBOND: 5% of HBD for compounding rewards backed by HIVE.
WORKERBEE: 10% of HBD to support Hive Engine.
Yield Tokens: 15% split among YOLO, DRIP, and BBH.
Savings: 10% of HBD staked for stable interest.
Taking into account all the payouts and compounding mechanisms, this portfolio reaches an estimated annualized APR of approximately 148.895%. A significant portion of this is driven by the extraordinary returns on YOLO.
It’s important to note that this APR measures the appreciation of assets through staking and compounding rewards. It does not consider any fluctuations in the underlying value of these tokens. Given the extreme volatility of crypto markets, attempting to calculate the USD-equivalent APR is unreasonable at this stage. However, tracking these changes will become more practical as the portfolio matures.
This estimate also focuses solely on the main Hive tokens and yield allocations. Additional tokens add further complexity and potential for growth that is not accounted for in this calculation.
Using hashtags, specific frontends, or posting in targeted communities earns additional tokens. I’ve acquired several of these tokens and have plans for each:
LEO is the currency of InLeo, formerly LeoFinance, Hive's biggest financial community. LEO is rewarded for using their frontend, can be staked for returns paid in LEO, and holds weight in voting on proposals within the InLeo community. Since much of my content involves financial topics, I plan to stake all the LEO I receive.
ALIVE is the currency of the WeAreAlive community, which focuses on affirming the vitality of life. They have their own frontend, and I’ve been using their hashtag for ecology-related posts. I plan to stake my ALIVE tokens and delegate them to the aliveandthriving account, which facilitates community curation. This delegation earns ALIVEM tokens, the miner token for ALIVE, creating a compounding effect.
CENT operates similarly to ALIVE but is tied to the #cent hashtag. Its goal is to stabilize the Hive token economy by promoting high trade volume and liquidity. While its frontend is defunct, I’ll stake my CENT tokens and monitor any natural rewards or delegation opportunities.
Other tokens, like VYB, POB, CTP, MUSIC, and WAIV, follow similar patterns. These tokens often have low trade volumes and liquidity, making them best suited for staking and curating their respective communities. My approach will remain consistent: stake them and delegate when possible.
Tokens like POSH, PXL, and GAMER represent unique aspects of the Hive ecosystem beyond content curation:
POSH: Rewards users for sharing Hive content on Reddit. While it previously worked with Twitter, its current focus on Reddit might encourage me to become more active there.
PXL: The in-game currency of Rise of the Pixels. I plan to stake my PXL for in-game benefits and compound its interest, withdrawing only when I’ve accumulated enough to purchase an NFT for gameplay.
GAMER: A token tied to KryptoGamers, a digital casino on Hive Engine. GAMER represents a share of 50% of the casino’s daily profits. While returns are unpredictable, I’ll compound my GAMER distributions to purchase and stake more GAMER.
By actively managing my rewards and participating in Hive’s ecosystem, I am cultivating a multifaceted portfolio that directly supports my goals as a writer, curator, and engaged community member. Each allocation serves a strategic purpose:
HP and Curation Weight: Increasing my HP ensures that my contributions hold tangible weight within the ecosystem, allowing me to support quality content and earn proportional rewards.
Community Alignment: The flexibility to shift my stake between tokens and communities ensures that my investments always reflect my evolving priorities and values, rather than binding me to spaces I’ve outgrown.
Compounding and Diversification: By allocating resources across DBOND, WORKERBEE, and yield tokens like YOLO and DRIP, I am tapping into compounding mechanisms and broader market trends, allowing for outsized portfolio growth while supporting core infrastructure like Hive Engine and emerging areas like GameFi.
Sustainability: Staking HBD provides stable, predictable returns that act as a foundational income, balancing out the volatility of high-yield strategies.
This approach transforms Hive from just a publishing platform into a dynamic financial ecosystem where my stake grows not only in value but also in alignment with the communities I care about most. By combining active participation with strategic management, I am creating a self-sustaining cycle of growth and engagement that supports both my creative work and the broader Hive ecosystem.
If you liked this post, you might like my blog! If you want to support this writing:
$emsenn0 on CashApp and Venmo[email protected]!LUV, !PIZZA, !BBH, or your favorite tip token.