I wonder if we are approaching the whole HBD adoption as a payment method the wrong way.
Without being at the heart of the phenomenon, it seems to me we are approaching businesses thinking they may be interested in a couple of new customers they might receive that already use Hive and who would be interested in this payment method.
Maybe small businesses are attracted by such a deal, but big ones, that already have dozens or hundreds of customers daily, maybe not so much.
What if we approach things differently, at least in some cases?
No Fees
I know we've been saying "so fees" left and right and it doesn't seem to work.
But maybe we haven't found the right ways to say it yet.
What does every store, physical or online, have to pay VISA, and I assume all other major and minor payment networks? That's right, a fee. For VISA, it's 5% per transaction. Some fees are supported by the stores, but included in prices, others are paid directly by customers. On payments online you can often see that 5% fee for VISA, but not always.
Well, Hive doesn't have any fee. 5% per customer when you have hundreds of customers daily amounts to something.
Then, if it's a physical store, it needs a POS (or more) and a business bank account. I know someone who had to do both recently and wasn't very happy. They are prohibited from being paid in crypto (!), or I would have suggested HBD to them. Not that it would have helped much with many of their clients.
If we are talking about cash (as much as I love its privacy feature), it needs increased security measures, special transport, etc., none of these services or employees being free or voluntary.
Hive solves all that. You don't need a POS, a business bank account, enhanced security measures, and special transport for cash. Everything is taken care of by a normal smartphone, the Hive network, and its applications like Hive Keychain or V4V.app (from what I know at no costs/fees on these apps because they are paid by the Decentralized Hive Fund).
Fight Against Inflation of Your National Currency
As we know, HBD is quite well-received by a relatively wide network of businesses in Cumaná, Venezuela.
The Venezuelan Bolivar had an almost 190% inflation rate in 2023. That's an almost unimaginable inflation rate in well-established countries, even less over a prolonged period. I experienced a similar inflation rate in the early 1990s after communism fell in our country, so I can relate, even though I was only a kid back then.
I checked what the biggest business that accepts HBD in Cumaná was doing with it last year. Other than paying for a few services, they just sat on it until the year-end. They didn't even move it to savings for the extra 20%. When you lose 190% in a year on your national currency (and I assume the main currency they use), holding the US dollar-pegged token for as long as you could was the smartest thing to do.
I know from experience, that with such hyperinflation, money needs to be spent almost immediately to not lose value. But a hypermarket? How can they not lose due to inflation? Maybe they have deals with suppliers in USD instead of Venezuelan Bolivar. I don't know... Hard times... Why not have deals in HBD, btw?
Anyway, I don't know how much it meant this cash on hand for Hola Supercenter, but they surely could hold on to the HBD for the entire 2023 without losing any of that terrible 190% their national currency lost to inflation.
An interest may or may not be interesting to a business in a country with hyperinflation, but protection against inflation is surely something they are interested in.
Other countries experience hyperinflation, and their businesses could use HBD as a protection against it.
Why Not Use Bitcoin Instead of HBD?
Especially in the bull market, people would say it's wiser for businesses to use Bitcoin (Lightning) instead of HBD as a payment method. After all, Bitcoin goes up in a bull market, and HBD remains relatively constant in dollar terms.
These are two different things in my opinion. One is an investment or speculative decision, the other is a commercial decision. As long as commerce is done mainly in USD, you can't use a volatile coin in commerce, may that be Bitcoin or Hive. It needs to be a stablecoin.
Otherwise, of course, with complex strategies that involve hedging, I don't see why a volatile coin compared to USD wouldn't be used.
Better Visibility, Publicity, or Bonuses to Use HBD Payments
If I were a business that didn't lose 190% in a year because of using HBD, would I be interested in more of my customers using this payment method? I would say yes. And retailers know how to offer incentives to push their customers in a certain direction.
If I were a business paying fees and fiat-related services and jobs left and right, would I be interested in not paying them anymore (or at least fewer)? I would say yes.
HBD offers a lot of advantages. Maybe its only drawbacks at the moment are that it's too small and too little connected.