Since posting my introduction on 14 May 2018, my anniversary posts have been an invaluable resource for me (and a reference for a few others?) to quickly get back to any work I have created in the past.
For some time now, I have debated whether or not to do this one last time and have obviously elected to go ahead. It takes a lot of work, but ... Worth it in the end!
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Over the years, one of my favorite aspects of engaging on the Hive blockchain was receiving these "milepost" awards from 
@arcangeI always get these in August of each year (I actually have a 7-year award), since this is my "official" anniversary. It all began long, long ago, in a land far, far away ...
Source: The "Genesis Block" of 
Steem Hive blockchain "journey"
Here is where it all began. And why, dear reader, you and I ever "met." Hmmm. 22.493 STEEM HIVE ... As all can see, I started out from humble beginnings. If one chooses to go into the blockchain and look, my first transactions were DCA steps into this new "virtual world" ...
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For various reasons, I have not created one of these "index" posts for years 4, 5 and 6. I will take care of that now, putting together a complete picture of what these years looked like, from the point-of-view of my posting. This post will serve as a key reference for me, from now on. And it will always mean a great deal to me, given what it represents.
Before getting into years 4, 5, and 6, here are quick references to all of the work I put in to years 1, 2, and 3. Each highlights the value I have added to the Hive blockchain.
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💥 One Year on the Steem Blockchain! 💥 Part 1 ... I celebrated my 1st anniversary by creating a complete picture of what the year had looked like. I built an index of every post and it has served as an invaluable reference ever since. |
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💥 One Year on the Steem Blockchain! 💥 Part 2 ... In creating my 1st anniversary post, I managed to break Steem! 😧 I got a dreaded "Exceeds maximum length (65 KB)" error! 😕 So ... Had to break it up. |
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🎂 💥 Two Years on the Hive Blockchain! 💥 🎂
Pleased with the indexing efforts from my 1st year, I celebrated my 2nd anniversary by again creating an index of every post. Highlights were my "Road to Recovery" trip reflections and the Hive / Steem "breakup." |
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🎂 💥 Three Years on the Hive Blockchain! 💥 🎂
I celebrated my 3rd anniversary creating an index of every post, with comments. Highlights were returning to my focus on investing and taking a "deeper dive" into Hive's 2nd layer communities. |
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Ever the "numbers guy," at the end of each of these anniversary posts, I put together a brief "Executive Summary" of what I had accomplished.
Executive Summary at the end of my 1st Anniversary post
Executive Summary at the end of my 2nd Anniversary post
Executive Summary at the end of my 3rd Anniversary post
Each year, I commented on these numbers. At the end of my 1st year's experience, I had wanted to write more posts, with fewer words. How did I do?
Well ...
We have to be true to ourselves. The quality of my work has long been more important to me than the quantity, as it has my "name" on it ... By the end of my 3rd year, it turned out my writing on the Hive blockchain was not going to be an exception.
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With that, let's see what I have accomplished since ...
For various reasons, mostly notably dealing with the relentless time constraints from meeting commitments IRL, my writing on the Hive blockchain dropped off, beginning with my 4th year. A decision made easier with my growing disillusionment with how poorly (IMHO) the "big boys" (and girls!) of the Hive blockchain were handling its inherent limitations. Which, in turn, had a direct bearing on the ROI of my investment into it, both time and $$s ...
As can be seen in the following records of my posts, I confined and focused what I did write on investing - both inside and outside the Hive blockchain.
In the 4th quarter of 2020 and the 1st quarter of 2021, I had made a considerable investment of time and energy into diversifying my crypto asset portfolio. Specifically, by going beyond simply buying and HODLing these assets and, instead, investing a portion of their overall value into the best DeFi (Decentralized Finance) opportunities I could find.
The objective was to put my principal to work in "money making money." Which would ideally result in the preservation of my principal, while providing some yield I could begin to withdraw for achieving some savings goals IRL.
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DeFi Income > MIM "out of the cloud" > IRL Transformed! Shifting to less pure HODLing and more investing into DeFi to generate yield was an important "milepost" on my journey through the virtual worlds of crypto. This post talks about the details. ● Life-changing Decision ● Yield and Principal ● Big Picture re: "Fiat" |
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Introduction: Earn on Gemini Exchange Compared the "wealth management" rates of return in my fiat account to that of a stable coin in Gemini Earn. Leading to "In one day I had earned more than in one year! ● Gemini Earn ● Trust and Security? |
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Intro: Rabby Wallet in Synch with DeBank Wallets are essential, but I had long groaned under how poorly designed MetaMask UX. Rabby was a transformational product. ● Quick Overview ● Executing Transaction ● Deeper Dive ... ● Resources |
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Exploring Routes to the new Cronos Blockchain After deciding to invest in Crypto.org's new blockchain and its CRO token offering, wrote this "how-to" post on routing HODLed $$s into it. ● Initial Considerations ● Bridge Options ● Investment Status |
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Stacks (STX): Surging Layer 2 Token on BTC! What? Wrote a LeoAlpha review of an impressive L2 token on the Bitcoin blockchain, Stacks (STX), and how to stake it to generate a passive income stream. ● BTC Passive Income Stream! |
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Closer Look: SpookySwap Finance on the Fantom blockchain Finding a deflationary DexFi token on the Fantom blockchain was a discovery worth reporting on, in the search for good passive income stream options. ● SpookySwap Finance |
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New Year 2022: SpookySwap and Tomb Finance on the Fantom blockchain Reported on SpookySwap's impressive crossing of the $1B TVL threshold and my 1st look at a new value proposition on Fantom called Tomb Finance. ● SpookySwap Finance ● SpookySwap Finance |
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Intro: 💰> $1,000 💰 Airdrop on New Crescent Network! 🚀 Airdrops are typically over-hyped all but nonevents. Had fun reporting on this notable exception - my Crescent Network (CRE) airdrop! Two thumbs up! 👍 ● Launch of and Airdrop ● Crescent Network's DEX ● DYOR Resources |
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JUNO "Whale Story" Takes Dark New Turn ... How about two thumbs down?! 👎 Ugly story, reminiscent of what many of us went through with the Hive-Steem drama, about how NOT to do it ... "stealing" $36M, as part of JUNO's airdrop ... ● JUNO Governance ● "Whale Story" and Major "Choke" |
What a "roller coaster ride" some of these early investments proved out to be over time! They definitely reinforced that investing in crypto is not for the ... "faint of heart."
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Starting with my power down from the Steem blockchain, I made no bigger decision than the one in late June 2020 to go my own way and get away from the "echo chamber" of the main Hive blockchain and focus, instead, on some of its "second layer" communities and tokens.
The following posts were written about one in particular, LeoFinance and its LEO token (which I first wrote about here and here), while steadily building my investment in it up to the "Lion" level (+50,000 LEO):
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CubFinance's 1st IDO: Are CakePop Payouts "Provably Fair?" As part of my decision to invest in CubFinace, created by LeoFinance, I elected to "do my fair share" in investing in CakePop to "burn CUB and make it more valuable. How did that go? ● Provably Fair? ● Nope! ● Edit on 1 Sept 2021 |
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"Demographics" of PolyCub's 1st Vote Helping out, at a pivotal moment, I provided a summary and detailed look at the results of 555 Accounts participating in PolyCub's 1st vote. ● Demographic Summary ● Demographic Detail |
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AskLeo: Airdrop Over => 25,000 PolyCub => Now What? Elected to utilize the community's new AskLeo option to answer a big question toward the end of a very disappointing experience with PolyCub. ● What to do with 25,000 PolyCub? ● Caveat #1 ● Caveat #2 |
As it is pointless to go into any depth and detail here, I will summarize my experience with LeoFinance's PolyCub protocol, closely followed by repeated failures of their bridge, to say it resulted in my completely removing my investment related to LeoFinance, having incurred one of the largest losses of my time investing in crypto.
Fresh from the experiences briefly touched on above, I entered this year seriously questioning why I had not acted on the Sell Alert (highlighted here) published by the investment service introducing me to Steem Hive, in the first place.
The communities ... The relationships ... I stayed on, limiting the investment of my time to curating, for the most part ...
DexFi investing is not a static exercise, especially if you have any desire to survive it with some of your hard-earned money still in your wallet, let alone with a profit.
While a number of experiences never "made it into print," I did elect to write exactly ONE post, based upon its subject's origins beginning with my Dragon status in the Man Cave and literally a ~5-minute window I allowed for a response to a key question "in there:"
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Like ETH? You'll Really Like EMP Money! A. J. Brockman is a fascinating person, once you know his story. A fellow Man Cave Dragon, he had created an enthusiastic community outside of Hive called EMP Money. This post covers my introductory experience with it. ● Fractionalized ETH ● Circles of Trust ● DYOR Resources |
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Toward the end of my 5th year, in a "preview of coming attractions," caught up once again in the drama of experiencing the value destroying actions of HiveWatchers (in witnessing their handling of another account), I began to powerdown for the first time in March 2023.
At the end of a month, I changed my mind, given the weight of what was always a struggle - "just walking away" from the relationships cultivated over time. Still, +6,500 HIVE was gone, as a result, and not coming back ...
In the early days of my "journey," I wrote the following on my (to me, at that time) pivotal "True Story: Encouragement on our Steem Hive Blockchain" post:
"... everyone can contribute to the encouragement of someone.
You just never know where one click on an upvote, mention in a post or reply, entry into a community's latest inspired effort to help others (all of the above!) will lead!"
Flash forward to earlier this year (2024), I was inspired and motivated by a comment from fellow Hivian Shanibeer. It wasn't directed at me, but was discovered via my curating efforts. It provided a perfect timing tie into something I had been contemplating from some time.
Which resulted in my resuming posting again, after a year and a half hiatus, in January of this year ...
Shani's comment led to a deeper look into and then a decision to join the Saturday Savers Club community. Mostly for whatever I could do, in my small part of it, to encourage others to develop this vital discipline in life.
The following posts are what resulted in my beginning to post again, after not publishing anything for a year and a half:
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Saturday Savers Club: "Signing up" for 2024! Resuming posting on the Hive blockchain, for the first time in a year and a half, this post talks about what motivated me to get going again. ● Financial Objectives ● Non-Financial Objectives |
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Saturday Savers Club: Week 1 Started 1st week with my goals of doubling my EDSD holdings to 400 and saving 200 HBD. Then focused on the importance of saving money, providing the example of the route I used to get funds into and out of Hive Engine directly from outside the Hive blockchain. ● Weekly Update ● Weekly Focus ● Weekly Tip |
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Saturday Savers Club: Week 2 Provided update on EDSD & HBD savings goals. Shared decision to focus on travel-related posts to meet them. Provided tip on a fellow Hivian's posts detailing why comment upvote less than $0.02 were wasted. ● Weekly Update ● Weekly Focus ● Weekly Tip |
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Saturday Savers Club: Week 3 Provided savings goal update. Provided encouragement by new members I had encouraged to join. Provided tip focused on compound interest and money going where it is treated best. Ended with assurance of "your future self will thank you someday!" ● Weekly Update ● Weekly Focus ● Weekly Tip |
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Saturday Savers Club, How-To #1: Saving BTC and ETH on Hive! 1st "How-To" series post with illustrated step-by-step guide to saving BTC and ETH on the Hive blockchain. Provided tips from my own hard-won experience. ● HIVE => SWAP.HIVE ● SWAP.HIVE => SWAP.BTC & ETH ● HODL or Add Liquidity to LP |
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Saturday Savers Club: Week 4 Provided savings goal update. Celebrated ● Weekly Update ● Weekly Focus ● Weekly Tip |
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Saturday Savers Club: Week 5 My final post in this community focused on helping others with some perspective on earning passive income and adding value to the Hive blockchain. ● Weekly Update ● Weekly Focus ● Weekly Tip ● Postscript |
While I really enjoyed my time with this tight-knit community and heartily recommend it, my personal association with it was short-lived. The "End of the Road" explanation for that is in the subsection at the end of my 6th year.
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With the resumption of posting again, I planned on continuing to make steady contributions to a topic of primary importance to me and many others - investing.
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Alpha: Launching Layer One X => Future Web3 Titan? Based on a "circles of trust" recommendation, I invested in a remarkable new technological advance developed by a team in Perth, Australia. ● Backstory ● Highlight Reel ● DYOR Resources |
Only the one, however, got published ... The "End of the Road" explanation for that is in the subsection at the end of my 6th year.
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With few exceptions, my travelogues were the most well received posts by the Hive blockchain. This final series was no different. For my family's sake, I wrote about an "excellent adventure" starting in Wyoming and ending in southern Colorado, experiencing the Fall Colors of the Rocky Mountains.
The trip began with my return to the site of the post for which I was awarded the Hive blockchain's Daily Top Payout!
Reward received on Travelogue 7: Back in Time at Spirit West River Lodge post!
If you read nothing else, dear reader, I would encourage to read the very first of the following posts, including the tribute I gave to the wonderful woman who personally built the Spirit West River Lodge (wth her father) and made it the magical place it was for us.
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Fond Memories: Return to Spirit West River Lodge Life is full of surprises. Is it not? This wonderful visit was unforgettable, left alone in this remarkable sanctuary, for reasons this post delves into in considerable detail. All resulting in lifetime memories. |
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RLT #1: Battle Pass Scenic Byway in Wyoming An experienced RLT sort of guy, this portion of the trip stood out due to this stretch of highway being one of the most remote on which I had ever traveled. ● Battle Pass ● Road to Savery ● Backside of the Sierra Madres |
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RLT #2: Magnificent Three Forks Ranch and Little Snake River On a spectacular Fall day, I finally experienced this remote river valley which had been ... "on the list." Hard to beat ending it seeing the amazing Three Forks Ranch! ● Little Snake River Valley ● Three Forks Ranch |
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RLT #3: Backdoor to Steamboat Springs in Colorado "Everybody" has been down US highway 40 to Steamboat Springs. How about coming down from Wyoming and into it from the North? Yes! 👍🙂 ● CO Road 129 ● Hahns Peak ● South Fork Elk River Valley |
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RLT #4: Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway in Colorado "Leave it as it is. You can not improve on it." Come see the country inspiring President Theodore Roosevelt to make this immortal statement! ● Dunklee Pass ● Ripple Creek Pass ● Trappers Lake ● White River Valley |
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RLT #5: Exploring the Flat Tops of Colorado On a Fall Colors Tour, one cannot beat driving through the famed Aspen belt of the Rocky Mountains. On this fine day, I experienced one of the best examples! ● New Castle - Buford Road ● Deep Lake ● Glenwood Canyon |
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RLT #6: West Elk Loop Scenic Byway in Colorado Another unforgettable day in the Aspen Loop of the West Elk mountains ended with a very nice evening in the remote high mountain town of Gunnison. ● Ruby Anthracite Trailhead ● Lost Lake ● Kebler Pass ● "After Hours" in Gunnison |
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RLT #7: Lake San Cristobal and Silver Thread Scenic Byway in Colorado Having only once years before been anywhere close to this area, what I expected to be the trip's highlight did not disappoint - heart of the San Juan mountains! ● Lake City ● Lake San Cristobal ● Slumgullion Pass |
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RLT #8: The Rio Grande and Silver Thread Scenic Byway in Colorado Never before experienced final leg of the trip provided breathtaking views of the headwaters of the mighty Rio Grande river and all the beauty surrounding it! ● North Clear Creek Falls ● Wemuniche Wilderness Vista ● Rio Grande River |
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RLT Recap: Fall Colors Tour in Wyoming & Colorado This "highlight reel" post extracts the best of the photos, from the posts above, and gives the reader a very nice overview of an unforgettable trip. ● Overview, RLT #1 to #8 ● Postscript - Death of a Dear "Friend" |
Away for a considerable time from the Travel community inside the Hive blockchain, putting this series together brought back all of my impressions for how Pinapple [RIP 9 May 2024] Worldmappin' is one of the best, if not the best, apps to be found. Anywhere online ...
The recent efforts of the excellent PeakD team, to incorporate a number of its features directly into its UI, only reinforces that impression.
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Getting right to it, the final "in my face" ...
... brought my + 6-year investment in HIVE to an end. Note well (seems important to some ...) this final decision was not due to their downvoting my posts. The first post below covers it all, if you are interested in knowing more.
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"End of the Road" for @roleerob? "On a roll" beginning 2024, what had more than once almost ended my investment in Hive reared its ugly head again. For the last time, for this Hivian ... ● Authority, Accountability, and Alignment ● Response to Appeal |
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RE: "End of the Road" for @roleerob? In a rare response to my own post (above), I addressed the question mark in the title of it. In it, I provide considerable detail not found in the post, for the reasons cited. ● Strike 1 ● Strike 2 ● Strike 3 |
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Wanna be a 🐉 in the Man Cave? Deciding to leave Hive is one thing. Actually getting completely out is another. This post was a public notice, to anyone interested in the top role inside the Man Cave, to make me an offer |
On a nice "roll," with 18 posts in ~6 weeks (nice for me, anyway!), that ended, for this investor. No going back. Just short of 30,000 HIVE tokens have been sold, from the accounts over which I have control. At prices well above where HIVE sits today ... Plus an additional mid 4-figure extraction of $$s from the various L2 token and other "side hustle" Hive communities in which I was invested ...
Does engaging on the Hive blockchain have some positive aspects? Certainly. See my closing thoughts for more ...
But as an investment? No. Certainly not to this investor, who wishes he had heeded the advice to sell his position long before he finally did. It would be hard to overstate the importance of understanding what any prudent investor taking a good DYOR look into making a potential investment into the Hive blockchain would decide, in response to encountering anything like what I (and so many others ...) did.
So, putting a "wrap" on this ... once again
Source: The "Genesis Block" of Steem Hive blockchain "journey"
I take some pride in the overall quality of my effort to write about a number of different topics. While I was grateful for the support and upvotes I received, that was never my primary focus, as I believe these numbers underscore.
Did I just add value to the Hive blockchain by writing my own posts? And not add value to the work of others by looking into and commenting on their posts?
Source: Stats on HiveBuzz
from the team of Witness
+28 comments for every post!For any skeptics, anyone familiar with my work will confirm all of these comments weren't anywhere close to the far too common "Nice post!" type comments either. I made a consistent, genuine effort, to read the work of others, then add value to it by making relative comments.
Few can show similar results in their effort to engage with others and consistently add value to the HIVE investment of all of us you ...
My final activity awards ...
@arcange________________________
Overall, I leave in peace well satisfied with my "legacy" and the value of the "body of work" I added to the Hive blockchain.
My "journey" into this "virtual world" of the Hive blockchain began via motivation as an investor. That ended earlier this year. While I can derive some satisfaction for having completed that process at prices well above where they are now, it sincerely saddens me for those who faithfully labor on hoping that will change.
Anyone "in here" for any length of time will usually come across some version of:
"I came for the money. I stayed for the community."
The power of the latter is unmistakable. At least to me, having now experienced it firsthand. Making the choice to continue investing the time and effort required to "keep up" with maintaining virtual relationships with people "in here" versus those out in the real world? Which is clearly (?) beyond any financial incentive for taking on that challenge? Others have and will continue to write down their ideas about what motivates a person to attempt it.
For now, my own sense of answering these questions keeps me ... "around" ... as I have a genuine interest in seeing how others are doing. Which results in my routinely looking through my feed and even still writing the occasional POL comment, investing some of my time attempting to continue adding value to the work of others, here and there.
With that, onward and upward. How ever you are doing and where ever you may be in this big, wide world, all the best, to each of you, for a better tomorrow!
Respectfully,
Blogger
Hive Man Cave "Dragon" 🐉 (yep ... still ... 🤷♂️)
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“Immutably enshrined” in the Hive blockchain on Thursday, 31 October 2024!!
🌲 No trees were harmed in the publishing of this post! 🌲
to increase the value of HIVE ...)