How to Issue Hive Gift Cards with HiveInvite

Want to onboard new users to Hive by handing out gift cards? You don't need to run any servers. HiveInvite lets you generate and manage gift cards through a web dashboard — all you need is a Hive account, some Resource Credits, and the Hive Keychain browser extension.

This guide walks you through the process from start to finish.

How It Works

When you become an issuer on HiveInvite, you delegate account creation authority to the HiveInvite service. You keep your own account creation tokens (claimed from your RC), and the service uses them on your behalf when someone redeems one of your gift cards.

The flow looks like this:

1. You generate a batch of gift cards through the dashboard
2. Each card is a QR code with a PIN — you print them or distribute them digitally
3. A new user scans the QR code and enters the PIN
4. They choose a username and their keys are generated locally in their browser
5. The HiveInvite service creates their account using one of your claimed tokens
6. The new user gets a working Hive account with some delegated HP

Your gift cards are cryptographically signed and declared on-chain, so they're transparent and verifiable. The new user's private keys are generated in their browser and never touch any server.

What You'll Need

• A Hive account with enough HP to generate Resource Credits
• Hive Keychain browser extension (Chrome / Firefox)
• Account creation tokens — claimed by spending RC (more on this below)

Step 1: Choose Your Issuer Account

The first decision is which Hive account you'll use to issue gift cards. Later in the process you'll delegate active authority over this account to the HiveInvite service, so it can create accounts and delegate HP on your behalf when cards are redeemed. There are two approaches:

Use your main account. This is the simplest option. Your main account likely holds most of your HP, which means it generates RC faster and can claim more account creation tokens. The tradeoff is that you're granting active authority over the account that holds the majority of your assets — this requires a higher level of trust in the service operator.

Create a dedicated account. You can create a separate Hive account specifically for issuing gift cards, and transfer or delegate only the HP needed to support redemptions. This limits your exposure — if anything were to go wrong, only the assets on that dedicated account would be at risk.

Either approach works. If you're starting small and trust the service operator, using your main account is perfectly reasonable. For larger-scale issuance or extra peace of mind, a dedicated account is the more cautious choice.

Whichever you choose, HiveInvite provides a key monitoring tool that watches your issuer account for unexpected operations. It tracks all actions performed by the delegated service account and sends you a Telegram alert if anything other than the expected account creation and HP delegation operations is detected — with a direct link to review and revoke authorities on PeakD. Setting up key monitoring is recommended for all issuers.

Step 2: Claim Account Creation Tokens

Each gift card consumes one account creation token when redeemed. You need to claim these in advance by spending your account's Resource Credits (RC). Each token costs approximately 27 billion RC, and the more HP you have powered up, the faster your RC regenerates.

Recommended: Hive Keychain Automated Tasks

The easiest approach is to let Hive Keychain claim tokens for you automatically:

1. Open Hive Keychain in your browser
2. Go to Settings (gear icon) → Automated Tasks
3. Enable Claim Accounts

Once enabled, Keychain will automatically claim a free account token whenever your RC recharges above 85%. This happens in the background — you don't need to do anything. Over time, your token balance will accumulate as long as your RC keeps regenerating.

This is ideal for issuers because it means you always have a growing supply of tokens ready to go without having to remember to claim manually.

Alternative: Claim Manually on PeakD

If you prefer to claim tokens on demand:

1. Go to your wallet on PeakD
2. Look for the "Claim Account" option (under your account RC info)
3. Claim as many tokens as you plan to distribute

How Many Tokens Can I Claim?

As a rough guide, an account with 5,000 HP can claim about one token per day. Larger accounts regenerate RC faster and can claim more frequently.

You can check how many pending tokens you have at any time on your PeakD profile or through the HiveInvite dashboard once you're set up.

Step 3: Apply to Become an Issuer

1. Visit the HiveInvite Dashboard
2. Click Log In and sign the challenge with Hive Keychain
3. Navigate to Become an Onboarder
4. Fill in a short description of how you plan to use gift cards (e.g. "Onboarding members of the XYZ community in Turkey")
5. Optionally add contact info (Telegram, Discord, etc.)
6. Click Submit Application — this broadcasts your application on-chain via Keychain

Your application is now recorded on the Hive blockchain and pending review. You'll receive a Hive transfer notification (a small 0.001 HBD transfer with an encrypted memo) when your application is approved.

Step 4: Delegate Authority to the Service

Once approved, you need to grant the HiveInvite service account permission to create accounts on your behalf. The dashboard will guide you through this, but here's what's happening:

With Hive Keychain (recommended):

1. Log into the dashboard — you'll be directed to the Setup page
2. Choose Delegate to Operator
3. Click the Delegate button
4. Keychain will prompt you to approve adding the service account to your active authority
5. Confirm in Keychain
6. The dashboard will verify the delegation and activate your account

Without Keychain (manual):

1. Go to your permissions page on PeakD: https://peakd.com/@yourusername/permissions
2. Under Active, click Add Account
3. Enter the service account name shown on the dashboard setup page, with a weight of 1
4. Save and confirm with your active or master key
5. Return to the dashboard and click Check Delegation

As discussed in Step 1, delegating active authority is a significant action. The service should only ever use this authority to create accounts and delegate HP when gift cards are redeemed, but the permission itself is broad. You can revoke it at any time by removing the service account from your active authority on PeakD or any Hive wallet.

Step 5: Generate Gift Cards

Now you're ready to create your first batch.

1. Go to the Dashboard and click Generate Batch
2. Configure your batch:
   • Count — how many cards (1-100 per batch)
   • Locale — language for the card and claim flow (English, Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, Russian, Turkish, or Vietnamese)
   • Expiry — how long the cards remain valid (default: 365 days)
   • Auto-follow — optional list of accounts new users will automatically follow
   • Communities — optional communities to auto-subscribe new users to
3. Click Generate — the dashboard will prompt Keychain to sign the batch
4. Confirm the signature in Keychain

The service generates the cards, builds a Merkle tree for cryptographic verification, and publishes a batch declaration on-chain. This takes a few seconds.

Once complete, you can download:

• PDF — printable gift cards, each with a unique QR code and PIN
• Manifest — JSON file with all card details (keep this secure, it contains PINs)

Step 6: Distribute Your Cards

You now have gift cards ready to hand out. Some options:

Print Physical Cards

Download the PDF and print it. Each page contains a card with a QR code and PIN. Cut them out and distribute in person — great for meetups, conferences, or community events.

Share Digitally

Send individual QR code images via messaging apps, email, or social media. Each recipient also needs the corresponding PIN, which you can send separately for added security.

Use a Telegram or Discord Bot

If you're onboarding a community through a chat group, you can set up a bot that distributes cards to members on demand. The HiveInvite project includes a bot implementation that loads card manifests and handles distribution automatically. See the bot documentation for details.

What the Recipient Experiences

When someone receives your gift card:

1. They scan the QR code with their phone camera (or click the link)
2. They're taken to the HiveInvite claim page
3. They enter the 6-character PIN printed on the card
4. They choose a Hive username (3-16 characters, lowercase)
5. Their keys are generated locally in their browser
6. They're shown their keys and prompted to save a backup
7. The service creates their account — this takes a few seconds
8. They now have a working Hive account with some delegated HP to get started

The entire process takes about two minutes. No email, no phone number, no KYC.

Managing Your Batches

The dashboard lets you track all your batches:

• Active — cards that haven't been claimed yet
• Spent — cards that have been redeemed (shows the username created)
• View per-card status for any batch
• Download PDFs and manifests for past batches

Tips

• Start small — generate a batch of 5-10 cards first to test the flow before creating larger batches.
• Secure your manifests — the manifest JSON contains PINs. Treat it like a password file. Anyone with a QR code and its PIN can claim the card.
• Monitor your token balance — you need one claimed account token per card. If you run out, cards will fail to redeem until you claim more.
• Set sensible expiry dates — cards that expire in a year give you flexibility. Shorter expiries are fine for events where you expect quick redemption.
• Use auto-follow — pre-populating new users' feeds with good content creators helps them see the value of Hive immediately.
• Delegate enough HP — new accounts receive a small HP delegation so they can transact. Make sure your account has enough HP to cover the delegations for all active cards.

Revoking Delegation

If you want to stop issuing cards or switch to self-hosting:

1. Go to PeakD → your account → Permissions
2. Under Active, find the service account and click Remove
3. Confirm with your active or master key

Outstanding cards from already-generated batches will still be redeemable (the batch declarations and tokens are already on-chain), but you won't be able to generate new batches through the service.

FAQ

How much does it cost?
There's no fee to use HiveInvite. Your only cost is the Resource Credits spent claiming account creation tokens, which regenerate over time based on your HP.

Can I issue cards in multiple languages?
Yes. Currently English and Chinese, more to come. The claim flow, card design, and wallet interface are all localized.

What if a card expires before being claimed?
Nothing happens — the token simply becomes invalid. Your account creation token is not consumed. You can generate a new batch to replace expired cards.

Can I see who claimed my cards?
Yes. The dashboard shows the Hive username created for each redeemed card.

What HP delegation do new accounts receive?
The service delegates a configurable amount of HP (in VESTS) to each new account. This gives them enough Resource Credits to start transacting on Hive without needing to purchase or power up HIVE first. The delegation comes from your account.

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Questions? Post in the HiveInvite community on Hive, or check the GitHub repository.