Is Hive Worth the Time?
First off, as someone who devotes at least a few hours a day to posts, games and curations, I would say that YES, it is worth the time.... If. What's the "if"? Time investment in Hive is hanging on the FUTURE value of HIVE. IF Hive goes 2x or 5x or 10x, then absolutely YES.... if. This is the payout that many long-time investors are waiting for, including myself.
Not that I'm anxious to sell. I'm happy with my investment in HIVE and 2nd layer tokens. But time is valuable. There's a lot of back pay still outstanding.
By investing in HIVE and not selling, we are banking on future value. When HIVE increases in value, all of our past efforts payback. HIVE is easy to accumulate at $0.34 but if/when it becomes closer to $1.00 or becomes $3.00, it becomes much more difficult to stack. Now is the time to stack.
It's Worth It For the Interactions: Peace, Abundance and Liberty
I really enjoy curating good posts and I enjoy responding to comments and the various interactions here on the HIVE blockchain. The one indisuptable is that the PEOPLE here on HIVE are certainly worth the time and energy. Hive attracts a certain freedom mindset. There's a reason one of the original "tribes" here was/is PAL.
Peace
Abundance
Liberty
This is what all of us here are looking for, freedom of expression, abundance of provision and peace between people. This can be achieved on the blockchain with enough diligence and effort.
People attracted to these idea are attracted to HIVE. That alone makes interacting on the HIVE blockchain worth it, financials aside.
Finances are Relative: So is the Cost of Living
Something to factor in to answering the question of "Is HIVE worth it financially?" is cost of living:
If someone is in a position where they have disposable income, perhaps retired, what better way to spend your time but by generating these fun (and potentially valuable) blockchain tokens. "Don't Post for Free" was the mantra back in the day and it still holds true today. Don't go on FB or Instagram and spend your valuable time earning nothing. Wealthy people still desire the thrill of a nice upvote!
If someone is in a geographic position where the USD goes a long way, those posts that pay out a few dollars or a few cents is worth the time and effort. If they can be cashed out for native currency that can buy groceries for a few days, what a beautiful thing! And a big upvote means a lot more!
For either of these scenarios, the time investment in HIVE (from a financial perspective) is totally worth it.
What About Supporting a Household in the US?
Currently, it is not practical for someone to interact on HIVE as a sufficient income to support a household in the US.
Because the value of HIVE changes, the ratio between HIVE/USD, HIVE could be sold for enough USD to (somewhat) support a household. How much would it have to increase in value? That depends on the cost of living! But with rising costs, this becomes less and less of an option.
No, HIVE cannot support (even a low income) household in the US. But there's always the... IF. Hive cannot support a US household IF it remains under $0.50. But if HIVE were something like $3.00 or $4.00 then PERHAPS.
My History on the Blockchain
I joined Steemit in 2017, investing $100 cash, buying STEEM at $1.60. I was gifted a 100SP delegation early on and I leveraged that and built a name for myself, earning reliable upvotes and support. By posting daily and participating in games and contests, I slowly built my SP to over 1000. When HIVE forked I invested my STEEM (over time) into HIVE investments and they have done well. Today I have over 10K HP, posting and curating daily. All of this was done the slow way, posting and curating and commenting from spring of 2017 to today.
My tactic has been consistent posting, responding, curating, participation and maintenance. These all generate opportunities for income, even if just pennies at a time. Behind the scenes (while I work IRL and earn fiat or do other things), I receive upvotes, curation rewards, liquidity pool rewards, staking rewards, investment token rewards, interest payments, etc. This is all great, but it doesn't pay the bills.
Time Investment
I try to lessen the time investment while increasing income potential. Not lazy, just accounting per hour income: with current HIVE prices, even with all passive income, spending about three hours on HIVE daily, rewards are less than $4.00/hour. Who would take a job for $4.00/hour?
As it is, most people who are investing their valuable time are counting on HIVE to reach at least $1.00 or $2.00 at some point and will sell a portion of it for "back payments" of their previously invested and underpaid time. Rightfully so. Time and effort is valuable.
An Act of Faith
For people with expenses, it's an act of faith to invest more time - continuing to consistently post and curate, believing that a time will come when former efforts will pay out. But the market does it's own thing. As financial advisors say "Don't invest what you're not willing to loose." The one thing we never want to loose is TIME. I never considered myself a gambler, but I'm willing to bet on blockchain technology, even though the general assumption (back in 2017, 2018) was that STEEM/HIVE would be $20 - $40 by 2024. As financial advisors also say "Past performance is no guarantee of future results."
I'm not owed any "future results" and I don't regret all the wonderful interactions here, however after six years of consistent effort, from a financial point of view, it's difficult to not feel a little ripped off. Not that I'm owed anything, but my belief in this blockchain has cost me a lot of time and I feel a little bit like a sucker chasing the invisible carrot of 10x HIVE. I'm still hopeful for 10x HIVE even now. Sort of like a slot machine, gotta pay out eventually.
A Misguided Vision or "light" in the Darkness?
Perhaps I had a misguided vision of actually making a modest living from blockchain income. Through the rise and fall of HIVE value, it gives hope that we may see a "new normal" of HIVE consistently valued at a few dollars each. Is that dream gone forever? No, we never know what the future holds. If we watch FIAT currency slip into the depths of inflation, it's only natural that selling price of cryptocurrencies will "float" to the top of a devaluing fiat currency, along with other assets such as precious metals.
If this scenario occurs, we will all appreciate the time and effort it took to invest into this technology, as every HIVE acquired and HODL'd will result in many devalued fiats in return.
I'm not wishing for this scenario, because it would only be a silver lining on very dark situation overall.
Crypto is NOT Salvation
While a measure of faith is needed, no amount of trust in technology will bring about salvation, financial or otherwise. There is only one LIGHT of the world and that light can never be extinguished, even if the ENTIRE internet is destroyed. As impossible as it seems to imagine today, yes the entire network of technology can fail. We don't trust in men or chariots or technology - but kindness, charity, good works, righteousness. This is the real treasure to store up!
But in the meantime, what do we do with what we have?
Much To Appreciate
It's important to remember had this time been invested on FB or Instagram or any other social media site, we wouldn't have anything to show for it! Something to keep in mind!
The technology is sound, the people here are amazing, the interactions are wonderful. If you are building an investment as a side-hustle, it's totally worth it.
But with this recent rise in HIVE price ($0.38), and now dipping down again ($0.34) it's like riding a roller coaster. On one hand, now is the time to hustle to build up the HP and tokens and fill liquidity pools. On the other hand, there's some FUD, should I have sold? Was that it? Where is the rocketship? Just a bump?
What do you think?
I'm asking the old-timers. Those who have been diligently building up their stake, investing carefully, believing (as I do) that HIVE will become very valuable in the coming days.
How do you feel about previous efforts to get where you are today? How do you feel about the future of HIVE?
At what point do you go "all in" or "all out"?
Thank you for reading this very texty post, but I felt it was time to get this out on the blockchain. If you've read this far, congrats!
Bless the Most High!
Teach Your Children Liberty from Sin
We encourage parents to teach their children principles of Godliness, beginning with the Word and an understanding who God is and what His Son has done to form a relationship with us.
No one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. 1 Corinthians 3:11-13
Teach Your children Liberty from Tyranny
Second to this is the principle of self-determination and freedom, lest we loose the ability to teach our children the first principle in future generations.
Our children read the Tuttle Twin books, specifically to learn libertarian principles, which most people learn later in life. These books are useful for our family, and yours, to teach children concepts that seem complicated, but are made simple in these books. I am an affiliate for Libertas Publishing, your purchase will help our family grow financially.
Bank Bailout Special!
It's happening, folks. The banks are going under! To educate our children about what is going on, there is a "Bank Bailout Book Bonanza" going on with the Tuttle Twins! Use coupon code FORTY for 40% off your purchase! Check out the books here.
"Politicians like problems because they can claim to have solutions... but their solutions often create even more problems."
