Someone Help Please
If you are new to the Hive ecosystem, you may be unfamiliar with a few of the concepts employed here. There are numerous things that confused me when I first started here:
- What is proof of stake?
- What is Leo or Hive Power?
- What is curation?
- What is a tribe?
- Why does it take so long to power down Hive or Leo?
- What is a delegation?
These were all questions I was asking myself, so I figure... why not answer them for others now that I know!
There are other more encompassing "starter guides" for using Hive, but I just figured I might as well jump on a few questions that I had to see if I can help someone out scrolling through articles today.
Proof Of Stake:
This is the concept that drives the entire ecosystem here on Hive.
The Proof of Stake (PoS) concept states that a person can mine or validate block transactions according to how many coins they hold. This means that the more coins owned by a miner, the more mining power they have. - Investopedia <
So essentially a blockchain using POS allows users to create value according to their existing holdings. This works much differently than Bitcoin's proof of work method that employs the use of miner power.
As you get more Hive and Leo and put them to work, you get more in return from engaging on the site!
Leo/Hive Power:
This was incredibly confusing to me at first, but is relatively simple. So in order to use the proof of work system, your tokens must be located on the blockchain. By powering up Leo and Hive you are putting those tokens into your "mining bag" (I just made that phrase up). As you power up more of the tokens, your likes become more valuable. If you are looking to be around long term, you should be powering up your stake regularly to build your presence.
Curation:
Curation is a little more complex than I would have thought. To begin with, it is the process of upvoting (or downvoting) content that generates value based on the amount of tokens you have powered up.
The complexity lies in the algorithm and rules that prevent the misuse of the curation process. We are given a certain amount of voting mana and that mana along with our stake produces the amount of value we see generated as curation rewards.
As you like more things, your voting mana drops and your likes become worth less and less. The mana recovers with time, but essentially we have enough voting mana to give out around 10 100% votes per day without losing out on value (I believe).
There are ways of weighting your votes to preserve mana using the LeoDex, but that is a bit more advanced than a beginner tip post needs to be.
Tribes:
This is a much less technical answer. Tribes are essentially the front-end that you are participating on. They are Dapps built on the Hive blockchain. Leo Finance is a tribe, as is Proof of Brain, etc.
The tribes have their own reward token that function the same way the Hive token does and by voting on articles that pertain to specific tribes, your voting mana will be taken from that Tribes total.
Being involved in a few tribes is a good way to diversify your Hive-engine tokens. There are brilliant people in every tribe and they range widely in topics discussed; be sure to check them all out and decide for yourself where you would enjoy posting most.
Powering Down:
This is a very lengthy process. It is essentially the process of you removing your stake from the blockchains "mining bag" and converting your holdings back to liquid form. When in liquid form they can obviously be sent and bought/sold in various marketplaces.
This process is undergoing a lot of renovations as people are wanting faster power down processes, but it can still take numerous weeks for your tokens to be returned to you in liquid form. Be sure you want to be in it for the long game before powering up because it does take a bit of time to return the tokens to you.
Delegation Explained:
Delegation is a wonderful concept and really helps new users build their stake on the site. It is essentially the leasing of your Hive/Leo Power to anyone of your choice. The tokens still belong to you, but the person who gets the delegation will have the "mining power" of the token until you unstake your delegation.
There are a lot of delegation contests run by existing users to help new users get their feet off the ground. I have run a few and will continue to do so, I want to see the ecosystem build and if my delegation can help out I would love that!
There you have it, there's some basics. Be sure to check out posts from the whales of the site for more in depth information, but I hope this was helpful!
If you enjoyed this article please feel free to reblog/rehive!
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Who I am:
My name is Rob and I am a college student doing my best to get involved in the crypto world. I have enjoyed blogging thus far and thank you for reading my article! Give me a follow and let’s build the community together through consistent engagement.