A couple of years ago I came up with the idea of the "HBD Freedom Ladder," which is a series of targets - or "rungs" - on a ladder that take you all the way up to 120,000 HBD. When HBD was paying out 20%, that would have given you 2,000 HBD per month in interest payments. See my original post here: @hirohurl/the-hbd-ladder-to-freedom
The HBD Freedom Ladder gave me a clear "main objective" on Hive, and I didn't stop climbing the ladder just because the interest rate dropped to 15% - it's still a nice payout and would yield 1,500 HDB per month if you make it to the top rung.
This year, I've become interested in crypto-backed crypto loans for investing in crypto, and one of my aims at HiveFest 10 was to see if anybody was interested in developing Hive-based loans for investment.
So when 
First, Starkerz reminded the audience of Hive’s origin: the community rejected centralization when Justin Sun attempted to buy control of the chain. That refusal led to the Hive fork, creating a base layer that is decentralized, neutral, and resistant to control. Every user gains the right to transact, publish, and build without needing permission.
HBD as a Base-Layer Stablecoin
Starkerz described HBD as a stablecoin directly tied to Hive’s base layer. Because Hive has no central authority, HBD is permissionless, fast, and free to transfer. It pays out 15% APR, and can be earned through on-chain activity, so ordinary users such as myself can obtain fresh HBD stablecoins by posting or engaging on chain.
In short, HBD is a viable, decentralized alternative to regulated, KYC-restricted stablecoins now emerging in the wider crypto space.
Building the HBD Economy
Starkerz highlighted several tools and developments driving this emerging parallel HBD economy:
1. CheckinWith - https://checkinwith.xyz/
CheckinWith.xyz is a tool designed for live in-person onboarding at events or wherever a Hiver meets someone who wants to join the blockchain.
Process:
A trusted Hiver onboards a new user via a QR code scanning app developed by
on Keychain. https://hive-keychain.com/
They take a selfie together.
The system creates a blockchain post, publishes the selfie and sends the newcomer 2 HBD instantly.
The V4V.App also sends them $1 of Bitcoin. https://v4v.app/
This process makes the onboarding experience fast and fun, and also rewards the new user with crypto almost immediately, while the first buzz of excitement is still there!
2. Distriator - Shopping with HBD https://distriator.com/
Distriator.com is a tool that enables users to spend HBD at participating brick-and-mortar businesses such as shops, cafes and restaurants. It pays a cashback when users post two photos of their purchases.
Distriator also rewards the person who onboarded the business everytime somebody spends HBD through the tool, AND it rewards the person who onboarded the user who spends HBD there.
There are now 414 businesses accepting HBD, up from zero a year and a half ago. Over 100,000 HBD has been spent through these businesses, all on-chain and without touching the traditional banking system.
3. Distriator Business Loans - A Step in the Right Direction!
This could be good news for those of us who miss the 20% APR on HBD! In the future it might be possible to lend liquid HBD to businesses on the Distriator platform and earn 20% APR.
Example: “Happy Customer Supermarket” in Nigeria
Happy Customer in Nigeria was making about $500 a month in HBD sales, so the Distriator team lent the business 1,500 HBD to expand operations, and revenue grew sharply afterward.
Starkerz suggested that loans may be offered to more businesses that demonstrate clear HBD-based growth. I hope so, and also that opportunities for funding loans be opened up to HBD holders in due course...
4. The Hive Debit Card
He he, I wanted to get my hands on one of these during HiveFest 10... but first, what is the Hive Debit Card?
I can do no better than give you Starkerz' own words:
This is the world's only decentralized payment system on a card. Every single other card, ... they all have custodial services. This is the only one that everyone in this room can create on their own phone right now without having to ask permission from me or anyone that created this system. This means that you can put your own business logos on these cards. You can create your own cards and distribute them to your own communities without asking permission from anyone. There is no custodian. Every time you tap to spend on these cards, it's peer-to-peer. There is no intermediary at all. No other card can say that in the blockchain world. The reason that we can say this is because of HBD. Because of the fearless decentralized nature of HBD and the lightning fast payments that it has. It's incredibly powerful.
Yep, anyone can create a card on their phone without permission by going to: https://hivedebit.com/
Future features include an iPhone app, offline payments, spending limits, and the ability to tap-spend either Lightning or HBD.
I was able to get hold of a physical card from 
So those were my four takeaways from Starkerz' presentation. For the full performance and several other tidbits, watch the video:
Cheers!