Not your keys, not your crypto.
That is the saying within the cryptocurrency community and for valid reason. As many found out with the recent downfall of companies such as FTX and Celsius, centralized exchanges (CEX) are not safe.
There is another mantra forming in Web 3.0 and it is:
Not your keys, not your account.
It is a lesson that is being learned by many within the social media realm. Unfortunately, since it keeps appearing, few are paying attention.
Image: CNBC
X Grabs The 
Account
Elon Musk is making more waves with his actions on Twitter (now X). First it was the hijacking of the @x username. This sent some people into a fury.
Now, he is backing it up by grabbing the
Of course, since it is Elon, this will cause a major storm. Here is a bit of insight: it is his platform. Hence, everyone has to play by his rules.
X terms of service say it has the right to take back a username -- the threat of losing a handle could make it difficult for the company to convince creators to build there long-term.
Welcome to Web 2.0. Have people not been paying attention? When engaging with these social media platforms, their terms of service rule the day. What is worse is they can change then at anytime.
It is their ocean and you are swimming in it. To think you have rights is delusional. They set the rules which the users must abide by.
Simple. Clear. Concise.
If you do not like what is going on, then exit and never return.
Your Keys, Your Account
With Hive, it is different.
Once you have a username, that asset is always available to you, provided you keep the keys safe. There is no centralized entity or company that can take them away from you. Your account is yours whether you set it up yesterday, or 7 years ago.
Naturally, with Web 3.0, there is a lot more riding than just social media activities. We already know the finance that is involved. Our account is also tied to a wallet, something that creates monetary transactions.
This is a direction Musk is moving in. The idea of not owning your account is going to take on greater meaning when financial services are introduced. People get upset when their accounts are closed, preventing the posting. What happens if the wallet is tied to a business and suddenly you cannot receive payments? This is what people face with PayPal.
Of late we discussed counterparty risk. Here we have another example, With a financial transactions, there is always another party involved. Sadly, there are usually multiple parties.
Therefore, any future financial applications built into X, Facebook, or YouTube means they are a counterparty in the equation.
With Hive that is not the case. As always, the blockchain is the counterparty. Again, if you have the keys, you are in control of the account. This means both the social media and finance.
Be Warned
People are going to start throwing a fit when things start happening. Politicians will grand stand, stating how evil mega technology companies are. Perhaps they will, eventually, pass some laws regulating the activities of these entities.
All the while, your account is closed and access to the money in the wallet is cut off. Certainly, like FTX, there might be a court ruling that orders the return of the funds. For that to happen, the situation has to be widespread. If you are one of the early parties to get zapped, the wait might be long.
For this reason, a warning is placed.
This is the wake up call. The merging of social media and finance is taking things to an entirely new level. While it is likely that these corporations (behind these platforms) will be regulated like banks, we all know the nightmare in dealing with that. Banks are far from pure themselves.
To Elon Musk, Twitter was not a social media acquisition. Instead, it was a financial and data platform that he could leverage for much greater value. Basically, he is looking to take FinTech to a level never seen before. Think of Meta combined with JP Morgan.
The individual behind the
Fortunately, for this person, it is likely a redirect, at least temporarily. The same would apply to an outright ban.
Unless a social media system is tied to a decentralized platform where one truly owns his or her account, the ability to lose it exists. At the same time, as finance becomes a larger part of this discussion, there is enormous monetary risk.
Hive solves this simply because there is no way anyone can delete or close one's account. If the username is issued, it is the property of that person.
At some point, this is going to become something people realize. In the meantime, Hive keeps building.
