Hive is very small right now in terms of its user base. While we talk a great deal about community, the reality is we are nothing more than a drop in the bucket. When it comes to finance, social media, or gaming, the numbers are mentioned in millions. Hive counts in the thousands.
That said, we are a work in progress. The last week was very exciting for me as the potential is starting to be realized. Much of this is still based upon plans/discussions yet there is a lot of insight into what is coming.
Of course, for "Hive" to focus upon growing the userbase is pretty foolish. This is not what will attract people. Nobody on the outside gives a hoot about Hive. Instead, they care about what is of interest to them.
In this article we will discuss how a number of projects appear to be taking the baton and running with it.
Can you imagine what Hive will look like with this many users? Here is where many of the projects put forth start to make sense. The number of transactions taking place will be astounding. My view is very simple: more transactions equals great value.
A user base of this size will grow the amount of activity by orders of magnitude compared to where it is now.
The jump from tens of thousands a month to a million is quite large. However, it is not as great as we think. Exponentiality shows how this is really not that difficult. At the same time, we can look at the viral nature of things in the digital world to conclude how it can happen rapidly.
That does not mean, of course, that we are going to see a quick growth spurt. We might be in the phase where we trudge for a while longer. Nevertheless, we can see how things are getting closer. Much of the work that was done over the last couple of years is beginning to show much greater promise.
It was a week where there was insight into a number of applications that can provide us with some advancement.
Here is a brief list of projects that are taking major steps forwards:
All of these will be emerging with major iterations over the next 90 days. Here is where we see the convergence of the ecosystem starting to assert itself. We started at such a low level in terms of what was developed that advancement was often like painting a room on a cruise ship. The impact simply wasn't that noticeable.
That could be changing. One of the keys is we are making headway in the onboarding process. A few of these projects are working on ways to allow people to immediately us the applications. Some are even looking to integrate not only traditional social media but also Ethereum and Bitcoin accounts.
It will be a major step forward.
One thing the time allowed is for a lot of accounts to be claimed. We haven't seen a ton of sign ups yet applications and large stakeholders were claiming all along. This means we have a lot more accounts ready as compared to a year ago.
We can often fall victim to talking in tens of millions of users (or billions). The social media world is know for these type of numbers. On Hive, however, if we have 1 million monthly active users, we will see an ecosystem that is thriving.
Listening to the latest broadcast of CTT, it was learned that PsyberX is going to use the token and NFTs from that game in a number of others. They are already planned. At the same time, there is a DEX that is being established to swap these. The goal is to tie as much of this to Hive as possible.
It is a concept that Ragnarok is already working on. The in-game assets for it are going to be utilized in other games. This is bringing a new concept to gaming.
One of the ideas that PsyberX has is to bring a card game to Hive, similar to Splinterlands. Again, this one will be tied to existing NFTs, providing a built-in users.
The goal from this team is to bring in 1 million users. While that would fill the target stated in this article, we will settle for 100K.
LeoThreads was released with a new UI. This appears to have gone over well providing users with a Twitter-like feel. We know this social media giant has a few hundred million monthly users. Pulling a sliver of that over to Hive would serve us well.
Finally, Liketu is gearing up for a major push, probably around the end of the 90 day period cited. They have over 20K accounts ready to put into use. This might not sound like a lot yet considering where we are sitting now, that would bring a lot of activity.
These is just a sampling of what is taking place. There are other projects working equally as hard yet publicizing it. Over the last year, we saw more things "just appear" on Hive. That means we are seeing an expansion without people really knowing about it.
The final point we have to make is regarding the financial aspect of Hive. This is something we overlook since the existence of the chain is social media centered. However, as my writing over the past couple years shows, there is enormous potential with payments and a host of other financial options.
At present we have areas that are hit with currency issues along with economic problems. It is no surprise they often go hand-in-hand. Either way, Hive can provide a solution.
The Hive group in Sucre, Venezuela is showing the potential. They are small right now but the Hive Backed Dollar is starting to push its way forward. We now have 13 stores that accept the Hive coins as payment on goods and services. That is not a huge number but it is a start.
What is important here is what HBD is doing for these people. It allows them to escape the Bolivar and gain access to the USD as a unit of account. This is of tremendous importance when dealing with countries of this nation that get severely hit with a rising USD.
Here again, the idea of exponential growth can take place. We are looking at a payment system arising which means greater impact on the users there. Merchants find a number of benefits to accepting HBD while the customers can operate digitally. None of this is interacting with the existing banks.
If this concept spreads, could there be thousands paying for goods and services in that area? It is not an outlandish thought. Local currencies have often excelled. The difference here is that HBD is a global currency which can be established locally.
We are seeing a lot of green sprouts.
The last few years were a grind. This is simply as things are. We have to proceed slowly for a while before things explode. When will that happen? The answer is still elusive.
That said, if the conversations I was privy to this week alone are any indication, we are not that far away. It is time to get really excited about Hive.
Some of these applications and games are making major progress. Over the next few months, they will be gearing up for another step forward.
Collectively, this can have a major impact upon Hive.
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