Graphic via AI / Gemini
We’ve been hearing this argument for years: “Most altcoins will eventually disappear.”
Too many chains.
Too many tokens.
Too many promises.
So the idea itself is nothing new.
But lately I have the feeling that the environment around crypto is changing faster as expected, and that could make this scenario more realistic than before.
When people talk about crypto competition, they usually mean one blockchain versus another.
But since the early days of blockchain there were always two bigger opponents.
First: Web2 platforms (this is relevant for Hive, Steemit etc that have their social media part).
Companies like Meta experimented with their own tokens and digital ecosystems. Not because they believed in decentralization, but because they wanted to keep users inside their platforms.
Second: the banking industry.
Banks have been watching crypto since the beginning. At first mostly with skepticism.
Not because they didn’t understand it, but because they were afraid of missing a train that could threaten their role in the financial system.
Over time the strategy changed.
First criticism.
Then experimentation.
Now adoption — at least of the parts that serve them.
Bitcoin ETFs are one example.
Now we see the next step. Governments are discussing things like the Digital Euro. Officially it’s framed as innovation and modern payment infrastructure.
But let’s be honest. A centrally controlled digital currency mainly enables programmable money and surveillance.
That is not decentralization. That’s the opposite.
At the same time banks and financial institutions are experimenting with their own blockchain infrastructures.
And unlike most crypto projects, they have:
If they decide to push their own systems, they might succeed simply because they control distribution and political leverage.
Not because the technology is better.
But because they control the rails.
Now let’s talk about our own house.
Hive actually has some very strong fundamentals:
These things matter. But technology alone doesn’t create adoption. And this is where we need to be hones (think I raised that topic already, not onyl once!)
Hive still has almost no real public face outside the ecosystem - reason we are decentralized community. But that does not sell anything, that does not attract users or investors if we have no use cases that are relevant for the outside world.
No clear narrative.
No strong external marketing presence part from "oh well, a car"
No consistent outreach to builders or investors.
Yes, people will say: “Hive is decentralized, everyone is responsible for marketing.”
In reality that often means nobody is responsible.
And the outside world simply doesn’t notice us.
Another uncomfortable thought.
Hive started as a Layer-1 social media blockchain.
Interesting idea — but most content produced here has very little relevance outside the ecosystem.
If Hive wants to grow, social media probably needs to evolve into Layer-2 applications on top of the chain.
What the ecosystem really needs are applications with real use cases outside Hive itself.
We have projects like Splinterlands. But if we’re honest, we haven’t seen a major wave of external adoption recently. The real question isn’t whether existing users like Hive.
The question is:
How do we attract completely new users, developers and investors?
People who build something that matters outside this ecosystem.
Hive is strong technology. But technology alone doesn’t win.
So the real question becomes:
How do we bring new builders, capital and users into Hive?
Because if we don’t answer that question, the market will answer it for us. And markets are rarely polite as we know!
