Why is Hive Power Up Day (HPUD) important?
This is something that gets overlooked simply because people tend to focus upon the contest aspect of things.
There is, however, a much deeper meaning to this monthly event. In fact, it actually highlights something that should be on the minds of most throughout the month. This is especially true for smaller accounts.
HPUD occurs the first of each month. It encourages people to stake their $HIVE, a process known as powering up.
This process provides a number of benefits. By participating, one increases the influence over governance issues, including the distribution of the reward pool.
HPUD is an event that is done by many smaller accounts. Here is where, over time, things can change.
Coin Distribution
Hive is powerful because it has one of the more unique coin distribution mechanisms. This sets the ecosystem apart for most of what is out there.
With blockchains, there are usually two ways to acquire the coin. This comes from being a block producer or buying it. Those usually are the two methods, both which require resources to start. Mining equipment is not cheap. There is also a cost for servers under a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) system.
Hive provides these options but there are other ways. One is to produce content that gets rewards. Another is to curate content using one's stake. As this grows, the amount of "input" into the distribution also expands.
Communities will want to acquire more stake simply to incentivize their membership.
There is, of course, one other aspect that has to be discussed. $HIVE is an access token meaning it is required to engage with the blockchain. This is actually done in the form of Hive Power (HP), the staked version of this coin.
In other words, a bit is required to even interact on-chain.
HPUD is beneficial in that it reminds people of the importance of powering up.
Oligarchy
Many accuse Hive of being an oligarchy. The notion is that a few accounts control the entire blockchain. There is some merit to this although we did see a number of large stakeholders exist the system over the years.
Actually, the largest stake was placed into the DHF during the hard fork from Steem. This removes a great deal of centralization by putting around 70 million coins in a DAO.
Nevertheless, of the staked coins, there is still a large percentage in just a few wallets. That said, when compared to the holdings of the likes of Vitalik and Joe Lubin on Ethereum, we see a marked difference.
Harkening back to HPUD, this is the core of the discussion.
The importance of HPUD is not the contest and the ability to win prizes. It is the emphasis on the importance of staking the coin so as to increase one's influence. On a personal level this might not seem like much but, collectively, it can have an impact.
Hive is a stake-based voting system. That is how it is designed. There are no secrets in this regard.
If one does not like what is taking place, there is a solution: increase your stake. It is really that simple.
Anyone who complains about the oligarchy simply is pissing in the wind. There is a clear solution.
There are lots of coins available on the open market, more than enough for a community to tilt the balance of power. Of course, this goes back to the need for resources which can be difficult for many on an individual level.
Here is where the collective actions have impact.
If 10,000 people powered up 100 $HIVE per month, this equates to 1 million. On a yearly basis, that is 12 million HP added. Of course, the key is to add and not offset it by selling the coins as they are earned. This is what many accounts do.
The tendency appears to be to sell an asset that compounds and then complain how the rich get richer. Perhaps, if you want to be in that category, do what they do.
HPUD starts to emphasis this by showing the importance of powering up.
The Key To Success
It seems that many feel the key to success is wishing the game was different. That is not how it works.
The key is to figure out how the game works and then operate within those parameters. Then, as one navigates around, alter the game from inside.
This is how it works in any field. Go into a company and start telling everyone what needs to be changed the first day. Unless one was hired as CEO, this is not likely to get one very far.
Yet, this is something we see quite frequently.
The same holds true here. This game is about stake. You can like it or not. The difference is that with Web 2.0, you are guaranteed to have no stake. Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter (X) are not going to give you any say in what takes place. Twitter is a private company and the other two have market capitalizations that make it impossible to be a significant shareholders without billions of dollars at your disposal.
Small account can double their stake a number of times throughout the year. Going from 100 HP to 1K might not seem like much but it is a huge jump in percentage. It also outpaces the average growth by a wide margin.
Over time, it is likely that applications keep adding to their Hive holdings. This is going to come from necessity since resource credits are required for new users.
This means that, at some point, things could get rather tight with $HIVE on the market. We are a long way from that but a couple successful applications or games can change things.
Taking advantage of the liquidity now is to everyone's benefit. Acquiring more HP is to the benefit of each individual.
Nobody was ever harmed for having more Hive Power.
