Hive is one of the more interesting blockchains. The ability to store text truly makes it a decentralized database that anyone can use. Due to the permissionless nature, we find this could be a centerpiece for other things built on top.
Obviously, the most valuable financial data that is stored on the blockchain is the distributed ledger. This is true for all blockchains which employ distributed ledger technology. Here we see information that is akin to a bank ledger. This was the first use case for blockchains, one that cannot be underestimated.
It is one of the reasons why banks have a right to fear blockchain technology. Money is controlled by the one(s) who have power over the ledger. In our present system, for the most part, this is the banks.
With Hive, there is another factor to consider. Since anyone can post text to the blockchain, the ability to build data infrastructure is present. Naturally, this led to the formation of Hive as a blogging platform. As time passes, however, we are seeing this concept expand.
In the end, it is certain that Hive, as a decentralized database, is going to serve a powerful role. With so much discussion coming from the control of data, many are eventually going to turn to decentralized options. Here is where Hive can be a service.
We are already seeing some early instances where what is on Hive's base layer is being incorporated into other applications. This key is how it is a major part of what it taking place with the second layer development.
Here are three ways Hive is gaining more value.
Podping
This is something that most who are on Hive are familiar with. This is also one of the best examples of how Hive can gain value that cannot really be quantified.
Podping is a project that is at the center of Podcasting 2.0. It is a movement that seeks to decentralize the podcasting industry and wrestle control away from the likes of Apple and Spotify.
One important component is the indexing of podcasts. This is typically does by the major corporations. Hence, censorship can occur simply by burying podcasts deep in the index. If nobody can find your updated stuff, it is as if it does not exist.
This is what Podping addresses. There are thousands of updated podcasts added daily via custom JSON. The data is placed on the blockchain and podcasting applications only need to scan the data for new updates.
It is a project that is very powerful for Hive. Here is one that reaches far outside the ecosystem. We are dealing with the podcasting players who are relying upon the data. At the same time, these entities are saving larges sums of money since they do not have to scan RSS and other feeds to uncover what is new. The savings in computation power is well worth the switch to Podping.
As we can guess, the data is vital to these applications. How much is this worth if 30% of all podcasts updates were to come from Hive? If we consider the number that are put out on a weekly basis, this is a significant piece to the puzzle going forward.
Each time you hear a podcast, there is a chance that, at some point, the update version will be derived from Hive.
One final thought: the team is experimenting with a revolutionary idea of having the ability to provide notifications for updated podcasts. This is something that industry is lacking at the moment.
LeoGlossary
Here we have another project that puts data on the blockchain. This is a direct post method similar to that of any article or comment written on Hive. Like anything, once there, it is immutable.
This is a glossary focusing upon terms that relate to finance, cryptocurrency, investing, and business. It was designed off the Investopedia idea. The difference is we are dealing with something that is decentralized.
The value of data is what is done with it. We can place 100 years of data on Hive, if it is used for nothing, the value is minimal (to none). Hence, we have to find use cases for the data.
With LeoGlossary, this is about to take place. Some are utilizing it as a reference center along with a way to enhance articles through linking. This is a rather manual process. It is about to change with an update coming on the Leofinance UI.
LeoGlossary will be incorporated into the UI itself. This means the information will be pulled by the application from the Hive database. It will serve as a feed to easily link articles through that front end.
Of course, over time, like Podping, the idea is to start reaching outside of Hive. People write articles on all kinds of platforms. As a reference center, the massive growth takes place when outsiders start to utilize the information. This is going to take some time but having the internal links is the starting point.
Veews
This is a brand new application that is brings a few use cases to Hive.
To start, we are dealing with a reader that is aiding in content discovery. This is something that was lacking since Hive started and is now being corrected. It is based upon an old application called Stumbleupon.
As we are seeing, the application is also moving into becoming a content distribution center. Anything that is found on there will be capable of being forward to other applications, both Web 2 and Web 3.
The key here is Veews utilizes the data on the Hive blockchain. For the moment, we are dealing with the ones that are still in the 7 day voting window. Eventually this will expand to include all the evergreen posts on Hive. That means more than 6 years worth of data will be fed to people using this application.
With the Internet being a place where everything is handed to people, this is a refreshing change. By this we mean the algorithms are all being designed to suggest what you see based upon previous content. With Veews, each individual tells the system what he or she is looking for.
Here again, we go back to the data. Veews is heavily dependent on tags. On Hive, this is something that was often overlooked due to tag spamming and the desire to each layer 2 tokens. Now, the lack of clarity with tags could be hurting some articles (it is best to start cleaning up the tags for older posts). When individuals select a tag, Veews will scour all articles with that in it.
Suddenly the information posted on Hive can be put in front of different people. Realistically, content on Hive was alive for a day or two. As soon as it left the recent feed and go buried on people's following list, it was gone.
Veews adds value by bringing all this data back to life (once the evergreen feature is added). This means hundreds of thousands of posts, ones previously buried for the most part, will get views.
Name another open database that has hundreds of thousands of articles covering most any topic we can think of.
The exciting part of this is, once people understand what is going on, their motivation to post content that will appeal to readers is increased.
Hive Value: Feeding Other Applications
When we look at databases, the value comes from what is placed in them. This is obvious. However, an equally important factor is what is done once the data is there. If it is never utilized, this is akin to sticking a file in a cabinet in the basement and never opening it up.
It is as if the information never existed.
For a number of years, with the exception of the basic features of account management and the ledger, Hive was like this. Few have thought about the idea of decentralized computing since this is not something in mass consciousness. That said, we are embarking upon a piece of it with Hive. We all know how important data is to computing.
With Hive, everything on the base layer is both permissionless and decentralized. It is mirrored on over 100 computers that are unrelated to each other. If one goes down, the database is resident on many others.
Now it is time for applications to be built that start to incorporate the data posted to Hive. This is where the real value will come from.
It also should provide people with ideas of what to store.
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