Remember when Voice was touted as the next major thing in social media? It was going to revolutionize the industry and absolutely destroy Hive in the process. Put together by Dan Larimer while also being backed by the money of Block.One, this was destined to be a major success according to many.
The company even went out and spent $30 million on Voice.com, giving Michael Saylor more money for Microstrategy.
According to an article on Crypto.news, the company will wind down operations.
So much for being the Hive killer.
In this article, we will look at what we can takeaway from this situation.
Big Money Loser
Voice was a big moneyproject.
In addition to the $30 million for the website, the company also put in $150 million. That means we are approaching a $200 million project.
Yet, as I write these words, it is all going away. Perhaps the name will have a bit of value in the future but that is all. The rest of the money is gone, a failed project.
This is no unique. It is rather common within the technology realm. One of the key takeaways should be that large pockets, especially with venture capital funding, means nothing. These entities lose money all the time. Projects fail, taking the investment with them.
Voice is simply another in a long line of technology start ups that failed.
Be Careful of "Killers"
Another lesson is to be very careful of "killers".
This not only applies to Hive but the space in general. Just think about all those projects that were touted as "Ethereum Killers". It seems that ecosystem is still going strong, at least based upon the way the market reacts to it. Vitalik is still one of the most influential people in the industry.
With Hive, we hear the same thing. Over the years, both centralized and decentralized options were suppose to kill this off. Yet, here it is, plugging along.
Naturally, this is not of the same magnitude of taking out say Facebook or Twitter. However, when it comes to decentralized social media built on blockchain, Hive is unrivaled. It also keep expanding its database each day.
Hive does have the Lindy Effect working in its favor. With each new block, the potential for the future expands. The more time that passes, the less likely there is going to be a "killer" that takes out Hive.
Again, we see the same with Ethereum. For all the EVMs that showed up, they are nothing more than cheap copies. So far, nothing in the smart contract realm is rivaling it.
False Promise Of Decentralization
Voice was suppose to revolutionize the social media world by offering a decentralized version of what was out there. The only problem was the false promise of decentralization.
In fact, it went counter to the tenets espoused by cryptocurrency advocates.
To start, it was using KYC to ensure that each person "had a voice". They wanted one person, one account. While this is a good theory, it is only possible with total intrusion into the person's identity.
This was a barrier from the start.
Also, while it might have posted the data to EOS, it was fully controlled by Block.One. Many question the decentralization of that blockchain. Dan Larimer builds some powerful technology but follow through tends not to be there.
All of this leads to the place where Voice found itself: abandoned.
Of course, with the founders commanding such a stake, it is impossible to preach about decentralization. This is evidenced by the fact the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Block.One, a move that ended with a $20 million settlement.
Decentralized entities do not get sued.
Success Takes Time And A Lot Of Work
Many know Apple as one of the largest companies in the world. It is a long standing, dominant force in the consumer electronic space.
However, it was only a couple decades ago where it was nothing more than a niche computer company. Even though it was around for 20 years, the products were high priced (something that has not changed) and did not have mainstream appeal.
That all started to change with the IPod. After that, it set off the smartphone craze with the IPhone. These two products move Apple from niche player to dominating force.
While there are overnight success stories, this path is more common. A lot of what Dan Larimer builds tends to fade away because he leaves. Block.One backed this up by, itself, abandoning EOS. Hive shows that founders remaining are not necessary for continued viability. There has to be people willing to pick up the slack.
Community is a word tossed around but there are around 10K people who are dedicated to Hive in some force. While the degree will vary, with the extremely committed being a much smaller percentage, there is still a group who took ownership for moving forward.
This is evident on both the base layer as well as the second.
Hive operates like an ecosystem with different parties tending to what they feel is important. It is not a company with its top-down hierarchy. This means that progress is not noticeable since it occurs in so many different areas. Decentralization always lags centralization in efficiency. The former, however, will always surpass the latter in innovation.
It is why I am optimistic about Hive in the end.
Voice is now going to be a footnote in crypto history. It was a centralized entity promoted as a "Hive Killer".
In the end, the centralized entity was what died while Hive keeps producing blocks.