With the approval of bitcoin spot exchange traded funds (ETF) by the SEC in Janaury, we started seeing some price action for bitcoin. In previous bull cycles, after bitcoin pumps, altcoins start to experience some price action; at least that was my thinking. So, I planned accordingly. I set aside some liquid $HIVE so that in the event that the price of HIVE started going over $1.23, I could start hitting some short positions. If the price of $HIVE start coming back under $1.00, I would start hitting my long positions.
Well, I haven't seen much price movement for HIVE in the past couple of months, so I think I'm better off putting my liquid HIVE away as HIVE Power and get back on track on my 8 year journey to 230,000 HP by 2030. I'm going to make a post about my HIVE goals soon, but here's a quick update on my progress:
| Current HP goal | 54,074 |
|---|---|
| Current HP | 45,238 |
| variation | -16.34% |
I started this goal on September 9th 2022, so being below my goal by 16% is not terrible.
Let's pull the trigger:
Boom!
Since I powered up at least 1,000, I got this cool badge with the biggest power up bee on Hive Buzz:
I think it's a cool way of adding some gamification to this monthly celebration. Who doesn't want a cool badge?
Of course, there are other, slightly more significant reasons I chose to power up today.
Why Power up?
My plan on HIVE is not a quick flip of a token. By holding staked hive in the form of Hive Power, I'm able to vote on decisions that need to be made on our blockchain. I use my stake to vote for the witnesses that I consider to be aligned with the interests of the network, and in the event that I see a witness behave in a way that is not aligned with my principles, I can help vote that witness out. I'm also able to cast larger upvotes to content creators here, which I hope will incentivize folks to create high-quality, educational or insightful posts. This is our prerogative as members of "the middle class" in the Hive ecosystem (dolphins and orcas).

Here are some estimated figures that will help you understand how much HP you need for each rank:
| RANK | Minimum Hive Power |
|---|---|
| Red fish | 58 HP |
| Minnow | 580 HP |
| Dolphin | 5,800 HP |
| Orca | 58,000 HP |
| Whale | 580,000 HP |
If you'd like to know what your rank is, you can visit hivebuzz, a project developed by the amazing arcange.
Powering up is also a way of putting my money where my mouth is. Hive is building some incredibly powerful #freedomtools to operate in a growing parallel economy. By constantly purchasing Hive, earning Hive and keeping it staked, I'm signaling to the community that I have skin in the game and I'm here for the long haul.
By sharing my HPUD post with the rest of the community, I also hope to bring some awareness (especially to the newer accounts) of the importance of having Hive Power as a member of the community. Spending money is fun and in a lot of cases, necessary. A lot of folks exchange the HIVE they earn for food, electricity and clothing. But by staking some of your tokens, you are not only able to earn more and help others earn more, you are able to vote on witnesses and proposals. So it's important to spread Hive power as far and wide as possible so that decision-making is not left to the few accounts with multi-million Hive stakes. Every account, no matter how small has influence.
Did you power up for HPUD?
