One of the native coins on the Hive blockchain with the other being Hive Backed Dollar (HBD).
HBD is a stablecoin whereas $HIVE offers a myriad of options. The coin can be staked in a process called power up for governance. It also is part of the voting system to determine how the reward pool is distributed. Staking $HIVE earns a slight annual, upward adjustment, to compensate for inflation.
$HIVE has the ability to be utilized as a medium of exchange. Since it is a base layer coin, all consensus is done according to the protocol of the network. It uses the ecosystem's wallet system. Any coins in the wallet are accessible using the private key.
Finally, the staking of the coin enables one to have resource credits which provides access to the blockchain. There are no direct transaction fees on Hive.
Relationship To Hive Backed Dollar (HBD)
One of the unique features of Hive is that it has two coins at the base layer. The Hive Backed Dollar (HBD) can be converted to $1 worth of $HIVE. This means that the market capitalization of $HIVE is the backing for the stablecoin.
The relationship means that as the value of $HIVE grows, more HBD can be created and still maintain its peg. Under this scenario, the value is spread across two coins, either which can attract demand, which has a circular positive impact on the other coin.
Access Token
One of the most valuable use cases for $HIVE is when it is powered up and converted to Hive Power. This is what creates a non-tradeable token called resource credits. This is a quantification of all the activities on the blockchain, meaning there is a charge for each.
However, unlike a transaction fees, resource credits regenerate each day. This is how Hive is considered a fast and feeless network. Users make an investment in $HIVE and can interact based upon how much is held.
One of the utilities is as an access token which allows one to write to the database. Since each transaction has cost, individuals as well as applications and games will have to ensure they have enough to interact as necessary.