This may be the last of these posts I do this year, depending on where I am next week, so it seems appropriate to look at how the year has gone. Some prices have not changed that much really, considering how $BTC has more than doubled. $HIVE is just so small that it does not get attention and languishes low in the charts. I suspect there are a lot of crappy memecoins above it that may die a death. We just have to keep going.
I am not sure we have many more active users compared with last year, but some positive things are happening around Leo and Dash. We always have the problem of more creators than consumers, but most of us are not really going to create posts that will attract millions and we should do what we can to encourage those who will. We can still earn in various ways, but I really think that now is a time of opportunity to build a decent stake that you can curate with.
I did not really have definite goals for the year on Hive, but I feel I did well. I also had the pleasure of attending Hivefest again. I can really recommend getting to that or any other Hive event as you will meet really cool people.
I have always been keen on promoting music here, so I will feature some again. Please give them some support and feedback (not the squealy type). Some of these people have music for sale on sites like Bandcamp, so you could buy it, but they will also appreciate your votes.
@breakoutthecrazy recently and they have some great pop tunes. They have a Christmas song out now.
@tdctunes at Hivefest in Amsterdam where he did some live electronic music. He has been working on a project in collaboration with some Hivers. You can hear the latest track.
@buttcoins in Split, but did not know he was in a band. They also have a new song that is rather good.
@ravenmus1c is into various types of music and has something calming out now.
@steve.and.anke have been busy playing the local venues this year. They posted some of the Christmas songs they have been doing.As it is (almost) Christmas I am giving away all the rewards for this post to these fine people, plus some to 
This is not some Hiver misbehaving, but I wonder if Hive could be affected by the Online Safety Act. This is a set of UK laws that place some responsibility with social platforms to deal with illegal activity. Hive is not based in the UK (it is global), but the law applies to those with 'significant number of UK users' whatever that means. From my #britlist posts I only find a few hundred, so it may be under the radar for now.
I saw someone who runs a fairly big UK forum saying they would shut it down as they cannot meet the requirements. I am no legal expert, so I do not know if this could bite us.
I think that the Hive developers will block accounts if forced to by the courts, but am not sure how that works. It may have happened with people breaching copyright. Update me if you know more.
It is nearly the end of the year and I hope it has been good to you. These are uncertain times in the world and we have to focus on what matters to each of us. Hive can still be our place to hang out that is better in many ways than the corporate platforms.
Hive five and merry Xmas.
| The man behind: |  @tenkminnows: Helping good Hivers level up
#BritList: A monthly list of Hivers in the UK |
@proofofbrian