Will I be spanked if I say I wasn't pretending but actually thought it was USD
I'd never threaten you with a good time.
And anyone can create a bot that acts as a custodian for others.
I didn't know about this before, how can one do that?
This requires access to a Hive node that knows the current state of the internal market (how many unfilled limit orders their are). It also requires access to the price feed provided by the witnesses. The bot would then take this information and post orders to buy and sell Hive at certain price points based on the value of HBD, and have to remove and repost those orders in real time as the value of Hive changes.
For example if we want to sell HBD at $1.02, the bot would have to place an order to buy Hive at "$0.50", but if the external value of Hive starts to move up/down this order needs to be quickly canceled and changed to a different value as the prices slosh around. This kind of thing can't be done manually by a person in the current state.
In order for this bot to act as custodian for others, it would have to have a lot of trust within the community. Say if I was running the bot you'd have to send money directly to my account and simply trust that I manage the money correctly and you get your money back in the end. It's not a great long term solution but these things need to be tested in the field in a centralized way before becoming decentralized later.
At the end of the day making these things takes a lot of work and understanding of how the Hive API and the entire ecosystem operates. Saying that "anyone can do it" is perhaps an overzealous statement. It's more accurate to say that no one is gatekeeping this function or regulating what can and can't be done on a technical level.
I get it sir, I appreciate the breakdown you gave here. I guess I don't need to create such now, the process is kinda long and requires more than I had imagined 😅