The Cabal of HIVE: A Plutocracy in Plain Sight
Since the birth of Steem in 2016, a quiet oligarchy has governed the chain—not by code, but by capital.
Approximately 36 whales, holding just enough to swing votes but never so much as to draw scrutiny, have maintained a razor-thin majority—consistently between 50% and 51% of all staked tokens (excluding the non-voting Founder’s stake until Justin Sun’s acquisition).
This is not coincidence.
It is calculated control.
By coordinating witness votes, these stakeholders shaped the platform’s destiny.
Their unity wasn’t ideological—it was economic.
And the results?
Mutually beneficial, self-perpetuating, and utterly closed to outsiders.
The Steem Takeover: A Warning Ignored
When Justin Sun swept in with liquid capital—buying not just tokens, but governance—he exposed the fatal flaw of token-based democracy:
In a plutocracy, power isn’t earned—it’s purchased.
Steem fell not because its code failed, but because its governance was for sale to the highest bidder.
And Hive, born of that betrayal, inherited the same vulnerability.
No safeguards.
No anti-whale mechanisms.
No checks on concentrated stake.
Just the illusion of decentralization—while the same 36 whales (or their ideological heirs) reassembled on Hive, determined never to lose control again.
The Strategy of Suppression
In early 2017, Steem faced an existential threat: real growth.
Thousands of influential creators—artists, journalists, musicians like 
To the Cabal, this wasn’t opportunity.
It was danger.
Because genuine growth attracts real investment—the kind that could outspend their 51% and unseat them.
So they chose containment over expansion.
They unleashed the downvote purge:
- Newcomers posting honest content—like hummingbirds, solar stats, dehumidifier water reuse—buried under -100% votes.
100% votes for Accounts like,
,
, @TheMarkyMark, @acidyO, and
—deployed as enforcers, farming curation while silencing dissent.
The goal wasn’t quality.
It was quarantine.
And it worked.
Today, fewer than 1% of new users stay.
The platform stabilizes at a “sweet spot” of ~5,000 users—enough to mint curation rewards for the inner circle,
but too small to attract the deep-pocketed outsiders who could buy them out.
The Looting of the Commons
To fund this stagnant paradise, the Decentralized Hive Fund (DHF) is being mined at a catastrophic pace.
Proposals are rubber-stamped.
Funds are drained.
Token value collapses.
And at the center stands 
ensuring that influence flows not to builders, but to loyalists.
This isn’t sustainability.
It’s slow-motion liquidation.
The Truth, Unvarnished
This is the Cabal:
A self-preserving plutocracy that confuses control with stewardship,
farming with contribution,
and downvoting with curation.
They speak of “community” while exiling the curious.
They preach “decentralization” while voting in perfect, silent unison.
They lament “low adoption” while actively repelling it.
The Alternative: Blurt.blog — Where Freedom Is Protocol
While Hive decays in performative purity, Blurt.blog offers what Hive once promised:
✅ No downvote button → no weaponized censorship
✅ No stake-based tyranny → no 51% cabal
✅ Earn what you earn → without permission, without fear
On Blurt, your post about hummingbirds won’t be buried.
Your art won’t be punished for lacking “engagement.”
Your voice won’t be silenced for stepping outside a clique.
Because freedom isn’t a feature on Blurt—it’s the foundation.
Final Word
Hive’s fate is sealed—not by external attack, but by internal rot.
A system that fears growth cannot grow.
A chain that punishes honesty cannot build trust.
A plutocracy that confuses ownership with sovereignty will always live in terror of the next Justin Sun.
But Blurt?
Blurt is still free.
And in a world of managed dissent,
freedom is the rarest, most revolutionary act of all.
—
Bilpcoin: We don’t hide the truth.
We expose it—relentlessly, clearly, and without fear.