Hive Power Up Day - 1st July
Here we are then folks - July the 1st, it's power up time!
Although I've powered up about 4k HP in the last 10 days, there's something cool about getting involved with fun initiatives and then using the powered up Hive to spread around to folks. Here's a list of all them powerups from my wallet if you wanted to have a look from the last 10 days but thought I'd ditch my EOS and exchange it for HIVE today to get about 473 HIVE 😃:
45,000 HP!
As a result of all of that, I find myself in the weird position of having 45k HP!
If you asked me over two years ago when I joined this cool platform if I'd think I'd get anywhere near Orca then I'd have laughed at you! I was pretty much a minnow, collecting what I could from post rewards until around August last 2019 where I just thought, "Well, it'd be cool to be a dolphin here", so I just bought some to get there... then after conversations with other folks who I've met on the platform and became good friends with, new goals were set and eventually ended up with this amount today haha!
Hive Goals
And that's what you'll find out if you're new here or even if you have been here a while and drifted along. You will have some goals you want to hit, big or small (maybe not even related to the wallet at all but other things like posting and commenting) but if you're like me and don't rest on your laurels, then you set new goals to aim for, bigger, more challenging ones!
As long as you don't burn yourself out and continue to have fun with what you are doing then you'll do well, particularly in a place as supportive to newcomers as HIVE.
Your Top 3
Speaking of fun things, we're launching our next topic today in the @yourtop3 contest - check the post out here and get involved!
As always, this is open to every one on Hive and is a great way to meet new people and talk about your top 3 things, expect friendly banter though! The other good thing is you get at least 4 comments from all of us who organise the contest (myself, @plantstoplanks, @foxyspirit and @cheese4ead) and resident mascot, Q, who seems to have donned his inner Freddie Mer-Q-ry this month 😃 This month is Favourite Lead Singers!
Answering Some Questions About Hive & Cryptocurrencies
OK, shameless plug and showing off about powered up HIVE over, let's get on with some Q & A from the Hive community! 😜 Some of you have been asking me a load of questions about Hive so I thought I'd make this an even more useful post for those of you who wanted to have a bit more information about Hive - big thanks to @beckie96830 for asking me these the other day - hope you find this helpful!
Where Do The HIVE Tokens Come From?
These are generated each day on the network by the underlying blockchain technology. Every 3 seconds, all transactions (posts, comments, wallet transfers etc.) are recorded on the blockchain in "blocks of text" known as a ledger. This generates tokens at a set rate with the rate of token generation set to decrease every few hundred thousand blocks so eventually, the amount of tokens generated will be decreased.
How To Exchange HIVE For Money?
There are many exchanges available to do this with. Some don't require any details other than an email address to sign in and create an account which are more favourable (no bank accounts needed). The most common route I know of is to exchange HIVE for BTC and from BTC to your local currency. Some services allow withdrawal to PayPal, others to your bank account but it really depends on personal preference and what is available in your country.
How Important Is The HIVE Crypto Currency?
This is a bit of a tough one to answer as it depends on what you define as "important". Everyone will have their own perspective.
Some people can actually use HIVE as their main source of income and use it to feed their family so I'd argue that it's VERY important to them.
For me, it's a definitely got importance too as a side income with my blogging, sharing music and travel stories and I want to eventually use HIVE to help pay for my music production and things relating to my blog. I'd love one day for it to be able to pay for travelling and holidays (when we're allowed to travel again) but right now, I'm just building my own pot up which is also being used to help other initiatives that support people or are fun (like the @yourtop3 contest - there we go with the shameless promo again 🤣)
Just Like Bitcoin, How Can HIVE Be Used? Meaning Now If I Have $20, I Know I Can Use It To Buy Something But If I Have 20 HIVE, What Can I Use It To Do?
Actually, you CAN use HIVE to buy things from merchants that have installed a plug-in for using HIVE on their website to buy their products and services (created by the great work of @roomservice).
There are also games that are currently on the network that require Hive to be used to buy things in the game like cards and other bits and pieces.
You can also send Hive to other people on the network quickly and easily if you need to pay them for something, regardless of where they are in the world. For example, I've helped some friends out on this site and they've paid me back in HIVE which I've used to Power Up and then help more people.
More options will become available as time goes on I'm sure but us early adopters are now living in a world of abundance where it is possible to give out a lot and also receive a lot. It's a new paradigm and way of thinking but there are many possibilities, which I can't wait to see be developed!
Is HIVE Legal? If It Crashes, Who Is Held Responsible?
I'm not a lawyer so I'm not really qualified to answer this and every country has their own laws on cryptocurrencies but I suspect that HIVE would be treated like any other cryptocurrency.
For example, in the UK, anyone can buy and sell cryptocurrencies but don't have to pay tax on it unless you withdraw over a certain amount in to your own bank account in £.
As for "crashing", it depends on what you mean?
If the price crashes, that simply means there's no demand for the token as the open market dictates that.
If the blockchain itself crashes, then it's the top 20 witnesses responsibility as they are the ones who maintain the chain and ensure it runs. However, the good news is anyone can set themselves up as a witness to secure the chain 😃
Different sites that use the Hive blockchain like peakd, 3speak etc are run by different people so it's their responsibility to ensure they keep things up and running on their sites (known as dapps).
If Cryptocurrency Is Turned To Physical Cash, Which Country Would Claim It?
My understanding is that cryptocurrency would never work as physical cash because you would have "offline" tokens/money that wouldn't be able to be accounted for on the blockchain/ledger.
The whole reason for cryptocurrencies is that they are secure and highly encrypted so can't be doctored and money can't be given that isn't there.
No doubt, governments and countries are looking at how they can control money and use blockchain technology as we see the current financial system in chaos.
Are We Like Ripping Off Others When We Win Or Earn Some Of These Crypto Currencies?
Not at all. In fact, others should be joining in the fun and try to win or earn some of it themselves because we're seeing a huge shift in the way we think about wealth distribution.
Some people can't believe it and think it's too good to be true or too complicated or it "must be a scam"... When I've asked these people a bit more about it and their thoughts on these responses, the common theme is that they simply don't understand the fundamentals and philosophy of what's going on.
Ultimately, it's their loss and people will feel aggrieved when they see what they could have had when the prices shoot up. As you see on Hive, once you have log in password (your posting key), you can actually just write a post like you would do on any social network and start earning - this is available to anyone who WANTS to go for it so no-one should feel they are getting ripped off.
What's Cryptocurrency?
In general, it's just another form of money that has no physical form but all transactions made are recorded immutably on a public ledger known as the blockchain.
These transactions are recorded by computers owned by various people throughout the world and not just one entity. This is known as "decentralisation" because you don't have a centralised, single organisation to rely on to keep the blockchain running and transactions recorded.
That's All Folks!
So hopefully you found this post useful! If you have any HIVE related questions that you want me to answer, I'll do my best to provide some insight and share my experience.
Who powered up today then?! Be sure to write a post and join the initiative from @traciyork & @brittandjosie before the end of today - more information here!
Take care and have fun
Nicky
Thanks so much for the shout out, Nicky as well as yet another wicked awesomesauce breakdown!
And congrats on the being such a big fish! 😉 🤣
LOL! How do you even create these gifs 🤣 Love them! Thanks so much for taking the initiative Traci - hopefully we see loads of powerups happening today and there'll be some wicked awesomesauce prizes given out!
I actually can't quite believe I'm on 45k HP, that's madness! I still think I'm a little plankton!
Oh, it's wicked easy to create the gifs! All I use is...
🤣
And I know what you mean! While my wallet is only a fraction as cool as yours, I'm still not used to the fact that I'm actually a double d... 😂 😉 👼
Oh my god, magic??
LOL, cheers to being a double D 😂
Thank you so much @nickyhavey. You're so so kind.
Wow. 45k HP
That's a lot😲😮😮
How do I get to that level 🤔🤔🤔
You're so great. I like it.
Keep it up as I follow in your footsteps.
Please remember that I am following your steps. Treat me kind like the others I guess 😂😂😂
Either way I'm so happy for you and your achievement. You're moving on to the next level.
It's your achievements like this that keeps me here and wanting to do more.
Haha yeah 45k HP is a lot, I don't believe it sometimes when I see it but I'm not planning on powering down for a while yet! There's some goals I want to achieve with HP but I hope to spread the rewards out as much as I can both manually when I'm online and via curation trails that support newer people to the platform!
For me it was a combination of luck, spending money and posting/being around actively for the last 2 and a bit years.
Luck & Spending Money - I bought about 22k Steem and powered up when the prices were low from around August 2019 - Feb 2020. This increased my stake to about 30k as I had already earned, won or received about 8k by then.
Then Hive came about and matched what I had in Steem so 32k HP already there, then I sold my Steem off because I do not like what it's become and wanted to get my initial investment back. This left about 10k HP that I could power up and I've spent a bit of money to increase my holdings still. That's how I'm on 45k HP 😃
Posting - this is something I've done pretty regularly and trying to comment like you are. Things were a bit tougher when I first joined but there's been a lot of developments and concerted effort to welcome and help new users like yourself who want to explore and have a "go go geddit" attitude - it's great to see and you'll do very well here!
Let's see how you are getting on in 2 more years 😃
Hahaha! Of course! I treat everyone like I would a friend (unless they've done something "unfriendly-like") and expect some banter ("sailing close to the wind" as @fionasfavourites likes to put it) but my door is always open!
I just may be a little slow sometimes because I'm involved in quite a lot of things and I'm only one person - need some clones lol 😄
Oh, geez @nickyhavey - no clones, phu-leeze! One of you is enough! We can't cope - especially given how close you sail to the wind.... 😁
That said, @beckie96830, he is right.... 🤦♀
Haha, you make a good point - i.e. I am right 👼
😂😂😂
I have to agree with @fionafavourites. One of you is enough please. I can't deal with two😂😂😂
I totally understand everything you said. I'll just need to consistent in posting and curating others.
I know things will be a lot easier for me before the year runs out.
And please don't consider clones. Do your activities one step at a time.
LOL ok, point taken, the world obviously can't handle double the legend so one is enough 😂
Yeah that's it, consistency wins out in the long run but have fun with it all and if you need a break, take a break by all means, there's no pressure. The steepest learning curve is at the beginning, then it becomes steady (but never plateaus)!
Thanks for the advice too - definitely taking it one at a time - getting a whiteboard was a great purchase, very helpful to keep on top of the tasks!
I'll definitely take a break especially when school resumes.
OMG I can't believe I'd go back to school and go through the stress all over. I'm just grateful that I'm at the last lap.
I wonder what I would have done if I had just started. I don't think I'll even consider it.
I like this. Sometimes your words out me off track 😂😂😂. I guess I'll have it at the back of my mind throughout the hive journey.
Thank you very much ❤️❤️❤️
Yeah! Last lap sounds exciting, final push and then it's out of the way and you have your life ahead of you!
Haha, well, life is one big learning experience so you may as well chuck in some extracurricular activities that are fun and give you a little something in return with Hive hey? 😃
I want hive to be my extracurricular activity😂😂
I just can't wait to finish really. It's taking a whole lot of time especially with this covid issue.
I wonder what lies ahead in the future. A whole lot I guess. Don't really know but I'm hopeful that it's going to be what I planned for. Don't want to be disappointed.
Thank you very much for your response. I hope I'm not bothering you in you extra activities.
Well you can always reply whenever you're free.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Becky
Damn, solid power up man! I didn't realize you had that much stake. Prepare for some ass kissing and brown nosing to ensue!
I started a new initiative that I'm hoping more people get involved in, alongside the Power Up days: Sponsor!
https://peakd.com/@cmplxty/power-up-and-sponsor-day
I think since you're in the trenches a lot with me, engaging and talking with new users, that you'll probably know some like Beckie who deserve some HBI tokens added to their bank. This way we get the good HBI shares ourselves to help our posts but it gets them into the ability to start earning HBI shares and eventually get consistent votes on their posts, which hopefully they will end up powering up as well.
Thanks a lot mate! Yeah, I've been trying to load up on HP since I've been powering down on that other site, put a few more crap tokens in to BTC and now making the HP get to work! I did have a couple of crypto goals this year and getting to 1 BTC was one of them, the other is getting to Orca so I'm bang up for it! No ass kissing or brown nosing needed haha!
Oooo nice one on the new initiative too.
I have to admit, I'm a little uncertain about HBI - I did have about 600+ shares at one point, then the downvotes came once the HF22 came along last year. I read all the debates and there's something I'm a little uneasy about buying upvotes for others which then turns into buying them for myself... I sold all my SBI shares off but if the general consensus is that HBI is OK then I might get back in to it again.
I remember the debate, that SBI/HBI was in essence vote buying and there were a few people with shitloads of stake that were being a bit of a dick about it but I think they lost the wind in their sails and have largely left people alone.
I think it also helps that the SBI account, to my knowledge, hasn't posted the daily SBI reports that people then upvoted and got bigger upvotes on their end but I haven't checked the account in a while, might do that to check.
At my meager 70 shares, I guess I don't have a lot to lose but 600 is a pretty hefty number so I get the hesitancy.
Oh I sold my SBI shares as a few people did at the time back to the owner or someone in the sbi discord who was looking to buy them so I have 0 shares.
I've generally stayed away from it since and as you said in your post I just commented on with curation efficiency, I'd rather give a comment on what I read but I follow a couple of curation trails that upvote a lot of new accounts with manual voting so try to help people get above the threshold in any case.
If the HBI model is generally accepted on HIVE then I might look at it again but I had been advised by a few large stakeholders not to use them for various reasons back in August/September last year
Wow and wow boyhbthe info and the power up I love it congrats on doing so well
Thanks a lot @brittandjosie! Glad to have helped with providing some info, if someone learns something from it then we're on the right track hey!
Congratulations @nickyhavey and another great elucidation of things crypto and Hive. Thank you!
You're most welcome Fiona - glad you've found it helpful and keep on powering up! Need to check out a few of these #hivepud posts over the next days 😃
I can see a bright future for you and your investments little brother! Good job! :D
I hope so little sister! I do think HIVE has a bright future for all of us and we're all doing well to be on here so early and taking the time to understand it! I see you are nearly a dolphin now too! Awesome work 🐬
Yep, that's right! Just one more step and I'll level up, yay! 🐬
Haha yeahhhhh! Awesome! I'll be waiting for little sister to be a bigger fish 😃
Show off, so only need half my stake to get to Orca, you rat bastard! Hope Arsenal win tonight too
Lol! Yep, half a "Che" should do it!
Massive game tonight, every game must feel like a home match for the Arsenal players with the lack of crowd atmosphere!
Wahahahaha! Well, I am a very happy closet Liverpool supporter....
Get out 😂
Blame it on my son from another mother! 🤣 So, suck it up!!
🤐