The subject of the Hive reward pool being removed is still a hot topic these days and people have different opinions about it. Some taking the pro side, and most are against the idea. Others say it's ridiculous and it just doesn't make sense to try to fix things when they are not broken. While it is just a discussion and nothing is being done to push it, the idea continues to stir arguments or debates among people.
In the recent Town Hall, for example, some came forward and voiced their strong opinions and arguments that taking the reward pool away will impact many people who depend on their rewards to put food on their tables. Most believe that users will probably do an exodus if it happens.
But before going further, what exactly is the Reward Pool?
This is a fund pool where rewards to content creators and curators come from. About 50% of the post payout goes to the author and 50% to the upvoters.¹. It's a unique reward mechanism if I may say so because it incentivizes both the stakeholders who upvote and users who create content.
According to the Whitepaper, 65% of the HIVE inflation is allocated to this pool which means the funds are not coming from anybody's pockets.
And per Dalz's latest update, the regular inflation per day is about 70k HIVE.² so initially, I thought that the amount of HIVE being added to the reward pool is fluctuating but based on the FAQ, the amount is fixed, although it didn't mention the exact number.
To me, the Reward Pool is a unique component of Hive because it gives stakeholders the power to distribute HIVE and HBD to others through their upvotes, no matter how small they may be. It's a very decentralized way to spread the token.
Anyway, some questions arose like how should the content creation be rewarded to make it more fair to the authors and the blockchain? Where should the rewards come from?
Use L2 tokens (most layer 2 apps also have their reward pools) or generate ad revenues to incentivize users, premium paywalls they say. Reward users based on the value they bring to the ecosystem etcetera. These are good ideas for sure but to date, I believe none of the Layer 2 economies (tokens) are sustainable enough to do that, except maybe, Splinterlands. Well, I'm not sure so please don't quote me on that, lol!
I think the current system where the reward pool exists to reward users through the Proof-of-Brain mechanism is working well and there is no need to remove or change it. Well, unless someone comes up with a better and solid way to incentivize creators and stakeholders, not just in theory or concept but build the infrastructure for us to test things out.
Speaking of which, I believe something's coming soon. A Testnet for the Breakaway Communities or something like that where users will be incentivized based on their activities or contributions. I heard that most social users will be rewarded more. 👀
Just my two cents :)
Thumbnail is a copyright-free image edited on Canva. 04122023/13:00ph