Steem was first, the chosen one. Undervalued, with the best community, it was going to change the world and protect us from censorship. Fast and free transactions. Blog-to-earn. We all believed in the good it could do for society after the masses inevitably arrived.
Then came EOS with deep pockets. Some jumped ship and burned their boats. Bon voyage. So much promise. Too big too fail. So little delivered. Those who rode that hype train made their money and gained a false sense of confidence. Profit doesn't mean someone is smart or correct. Many bad investments made money when everything was making money.
Next, Justin and Ned demolished Steem, and Hive was born. It was refreshing and entertaining to see old names resurface to protect their cash cows and get free press as white knights. Some championed the cause. Other likely just panicking because they wanted their passive income. Airdrops of free money made everything ok for a while. The dust settled and many remained.
Then the bear market crushed the life out of our funds. Some left, others took a break, and many stayed to keep milking the chain for passive income. In my eyes, many of those hyping Hive's greatness merely treated Hive like a faucet, whether by farming autovotes, gaming the system, or religiously harvesting Hive under the guise of alt accounts. Many grew their accounts in this fashion and didn't go out of their way to support the very "best community" at large. People can be ugly when money is involved. Outside of Splinterlands, IMO not too much was built to substantially change anything or drive adoption. While Steem was a ghost ship, Hive was an ocean liner with the same old passengers sailing for free. It felt like inner-circles took care of each other, and the rest were left with breadcrumbs. This discouraged me from buying an exorbitant amount of Hive many times, something I don't regret one bit. I'd never have to work a day again if I did that, yet I know it wasn't right for me.
But, Hive is again the chosen one. Undervalued, with the best community, it is going to change the world and protect us from censorship. Fast and free transactions. Blog-to-earn. We all believe in the good it could do for society after the masses inevitably arrived. Sound familiar? Potentially and hopefully, some new apps may be on the way, yet we're still counting the legitimate ones on one hand. Regardless, the Hive Fund has paid handsomely over the years, fueled by the same big voters, who seem to keep throwing money at stuff -- yet the benefits and results must all magically on the backend I presume.
Prices will rise and patience for underdogs who kept their Hive will be rewarded. I'm happy for them. I hope they take profit and benefit from their sacrifice. Hopefully this new phase will shake some old guard out after they retire early.
Hive didn't exist a few years ago. Steem is washed up. What will happen in a few years? We haven't known in the past and clearly don't know the future now. Hive could be washed up and a new fork could exist, or Hive could thrive in its niche.
One thing we do know is that Bitcoin will be here over time. It will be here in 10 years, and more scarce than ever. Protect your eggs. Hive has promise, but I suggest evaluating where you allocate your crypto wealth as Hive starts to move. Hive leadership will always trumpet hope and bias to believe in its future as the next best thing, but this is often self-serving. They said the same about Hive. EOS said the same about Voice. Most whales' investments are their priority... or else we're have less chats and blogs about vision, and more results over the past several years. The community and Hive Power in its true form may be priority to some, but when money is involved, don't rely on others to hold their bags and keep the price up. Our market cap is still tiny and easily moved.
Generally speaking, it's wise to take profits. After all of these years, for those who have been here through the ups and downs, reinvest your gains in something you know will stand the test of time. Whether that be in yourself, your health, hard assets, trophy assets, or other crypto with thousands of devs, pay yourself while the gettin's good. Bells and whistles won't always be there for you when the tides turn. Deflationary beats inflationary. You can be immutable on Web 3.0 without needing full bags of a highly volatile Hive token that may be a ghost coin in 5 years. Perhaps censorship-resistant blog posts or low-quality videos with a handful of views (yet with large upvotes likely judged just by its fancy snap) will still be here, but make sure you take care of yourself in real life. Don't fear judgment by those who often project their bias on others (perhaps as I have done here, albeit with good intentions). It's ok to sell. It's ok to buy Bitcoin. It's ok to go back to fiat before a potential bear cycle returns.
Ride the waves, but don't get greedy to hold the bag again. Remove emotion and fomo to preserve your hard-earned gains while they're in hand.
To those who happened to have read this and see things from another perspective, thank you.
PS - someone recently told me they were afraid of how they'd appear if they powered down. This is why I wanted to vent these thoughts. While those concerns are valid, F those would ever make anyone feel this way.
@steemmatt