The cost of infrastructure is paid by the inflation of Hive. This dilutes the holdings of those with Hive. However, growth is a way this is offset.

When a system grows faster than the inflation rate, it is generating more value for the coin or token. With Hive, if we see a 20% increase in users while inflation is at 7%, then the value is increasing.

The question is whether the market realizes it or not but that is always a different story.