One of Hive's strengths is its semi-decentralised nature. The blockchain belongs to everyone and no one at the same time. This gives Hive some level of credibility most blockchains do not have, which we celebrate here a lot. However, it is not enough to gain the chain traction.
Now, when I speak of 'traction' I refer mostly to social capital, not financial capital. I believe a social-based blockchain should have an enormous amount of social capital and that translates to millions of people using the blockchain for free. Hive can onboard millions of people. It hasn't done that for many reasons.
One of Hive's challenges has been the onboarding process and experience which has improved significantly over the last 3-4 years. In addition, millions of people have become accustomed to the idea of self-custody, so this is not much of an issue, but there is still a lot to be done to have the Web 2 sign-up system.
The second issue has been one of direction. There is no sense of cohesion in terms of ideology, goals, etc, especially on the dapp level, which I believe is responsible for the supposed stagnation/retrogression the chain is facing in terms of development. This can only happen if there is a central body responsible for the development of the hive blockchain.
Now, some will argue that we do not need such an entity but I will disagree by saying that one already exists-- in the shadows. I don't think an organization should exist in the shadows. Yes, I am aware that most of us are still haunted by the trauma that was STEEMINC, but I think Hive INC would be better.
HIVE INC will give the chain something it has been lacking for some time: an identity. This creates a channel by which we can attract investment and developers. Whatever capital and innovation a chain slowly moves towards obscurity but the reverse is the case when you have these two things. They always attract new entrants into the ecosystem, which is something that Hive Blockchain needs more than ever.
As much as we would like to view STEEMINC in a bad light, the blockchain had its renaissance under the company and they facilitated the growth of most of the major dapps that have either migrated to other ecosystem or cease to exist anymore. This is something the Hive blockchain lacks currently.
Understandably, there will be debates or issues regarding what company should be the face of the Hive blockchain. However, we can all agree that this is something that needs to happen to consolidate all our efforts in growing the Hive ecosystem.
In addition, I believe Hive could use some rebranding. Some of the core things that make this blockchain have slowly eroded over time, and building from where the blockchain currently stands doesn't look promising. The crypto space has evolved and many Hivers don't realize this or care enough about it. Hive should NOT end up like the likes of STEEM, EOS, etc