I have been away for a while, trying to handle real life. In that time, so much changes have happened in my blockchain universe: new steem, then steem forking to #hive, along with my favourite content creators, curation projects and support with it. It has been weird, watching all the drama from the sidelines, trying to grasp understanding with my limited knowledge of the technical aspect of Blockchains in general and steem in particular.
Within this new game, born of the old game, so much seem the same. I am sure differences between steem and hive will begin to pop up as time goes. The offspring often seeks her own part and veers away from parental intent in most cases. If it will be for good or for ill, only posterity will tell. I like to believe that those at the helm of affairs are proactive people, not reactive, that as I type this, this cool Sunday morning, they are gathering ideas across board on how to flesh out a map of where we are going to and how to get there. It would be wonderful to be a part of a social media startup that has learnt from the mistakes of older forms and versions and can see clearly the part before us.
Bittrex has welcomed the #hive token into its exchange and I hope more exchanges do the same. This feels like the beginning of something. Everything has to be done better this time or leaving steem would become redundant. The mistakes that led to this fork should not be repeated. No matter how large anyone persons power on this platform may be, let us not let ego, pride spoil a good thing.
The blockchain industry is still at its nascent stage. It is still a wild west out there; fortunes are being made and lost, ideas are being discarded even as old ones are standing the test of our short time here. A time will come in this industry, when many of the names that pepper our lips will be nothing but epitaphs of fallen dreams. We should strive to ensure that Hive is not a part of the blockchain cemetery.
I have loved steem from my first days there and though I have delved into other blockchain projects over time, steemit has remained my favourite. This is despite the issues it has had over the years. I feel sadness about the split and I feel that it is the end of a certain type of blogging platform, something that will only be found here in the coming future. I expect that Justin Sun has his own vision of what steemit should be. Maybe, he will let it pursue its old trajectory, maybe he will take it to a different direction; only time will tell.
Because I am curious to see where this will lead to, I am keeping my steemit account, although I am powering down. I have been powering down before the battles with Tron, so do not think my power down implies that I am dumping steem. This is not it. I need the money. It is as simple as that. I want to see what Justin Sun will do with the powers he is fighting so hard to have. Is he fighting for power sake or does he have a plan, a road map to take steemit to another level? I want to know.
I see big things for the blockchain industry. I believe strongly in the message it preaches; decentralisation, the emancipation of money from the throttle of banks and big businesses, uncensored content, privacy driven models. It is why I stick around. I want to know that I was a part of the beginning. I was here at the wild west, shaking my pan through the mud, digging with pickaxe and shovels for the promised gold. When the stories of these times are told by history books, I want to point to a page and say;
"I remember this day when a group of witnesses stood up and left their nodes to start another chain. It was a rebellion, a battle against centralisation!" I want to guffaw, tell tales, tall tales of folks, be an insider of defining moments in the history of the blockchain world.
Great things take time. I don't expect to make millions from crypto currency. At one time, I did, in those early years when prices tore through the roof. They seem almost mythical now, those times. I expect this blockchain to solve problems, to change narratives, to question redundant financial ideas, to build a better world based on egalitarian ideals and I want to add my small voice to it. I want to be a path of the revolution, of positive change, of sticking it to the man, as some would say. No matter what happens at the end of it all, if there is ever an end to anything, I want to stop, knowing that I was a path of the difference.
I think I have rambled enough. All I can say is, do this thing right, witnesses, power brokers, developers on this here Hive. Whatever issues you may have had, put it aside and work together. Listen to opinions, seek advice, take good advice. What the covid-19 pandemic has taught me is how fragile our hate is when faced with a common enemy. We do great things when we come together. Long live Hive. As you were.
©Osahon, 2020.