When I first started out on HIVE a little over 8 years ago (8 years 18 days to be more precise) I honestly never knew I would still be active. No one knows what to expect and having no expectations is probably the best mindset and I had no idea what even HIVE was so there was no thinking ahead.
The first few years were a major struggle and I really mean a major struggle and was one of the toughest personal challenges I have taken on. Starting from 0 or minus 15 HIVE in my case as this is what was loaned to me so I had some resource credits to help me get started.
It is fascinating now to look back at the 12 month splits from day one until now. I do think it is far easier to grow these days as there is far more support with you able to join communities with your same interests.
Looking at the growth over 12 month periods highlights how over time with compounding the rewards and interest things do become easier. Starting out is not for the feint hearted and why it is worthwhile to keep at it. Do not give up.
March 2018 0 HP
March 2019 3 174 HP
March 2020 14 554 HP
March 2021 48 994 HP
March 2022 65 472 HP
March 2023 86 872 HP
March 2024 112 655 HP
March 2025 147 306 HP
March 2026 192 385 HP
I think this is an important part about HIVE that needs sharing as many start out thinking they will be earning from day one. The truth is this takes time to build a support base and to become a member of the community. Hive became a personal challenge that I took head on and why I appreciate every HIVE I have staked as this represents far more than just a dollar value.
From day one I was spending the time on the blockchain and often averaging 8 hours a day which sounds kind of crazy to me now. The first 12 months was seriously hard and managed to grow just over 3K HIVE. I can still remember the struggle and it was very real and the important part is I kept on going. Very few people who started out with myself back then are left as unfortunately it is easier to give up than continue.
2020 the growth was decent and this was down to a proper slog getting involved in Musings which no longer is on the blockchain. A few of us and they know who they are dedicated many hours each day to researching and writing answers in the hope of a decent upvote. This was like writing 6 posts daily on topics you had no knowledge about and it was kind of tough. This was a great help for the growth even though that period was a really bad time that I would never like to repeat ever again. Desperate times call for desperate measures and sometimes you just have to do things that are not pleasant.
March 2021 is kind of misleading as that figure also includes the power down from the old chain which was an added bonus swapping out and staking that vale in HIVE. This basically doubled your stake immediately and actually helped so much. Everyone loves free coins and is the only power down I have ever done.
2022 saw 17K HP growth, 2023 21k HP, 2024 26k HP, 2025 35K HP and finally 2026 45K HP growth. This is expected with slight increases each year as your stake is that much larger so the APR and curation rewards are increasing organically as the HP stake increases.
The tricky part is the first 4 years and once you are through that stage you should be well on your way. We all grow at different levels and a lot depends on how active and consistent you are. I can recall many used to spend more time on discord than the blockchain which did not make much sense to myself.
This may sound funny, but HIVE growth is actually harder than real life struggles. This week I have a target of 6-10 new clients to see all depending if they are available or not due to Easter holidays at the back end of the week. This is real life pressure, but far easier than working on HIVE in 2018-2020 so HIVE has helped train your mind in ways you would never think possible.