Bidbots—the infamous pay-for-upvote bots—once plagued Hive’s early days, flooding the chain with low-effort content in exchange for rewards. Eventually, the community pushed back, reclaiming curation and quality.
But now that Hive's Layer 2 platforms like LeoFinance, Threads, and D.Buzz are expanding quickly, we are seeing indications of their return—albeit under a new name. Custom tokens let users advertise posts, rent votes, or pay for visibility on these L2s. It’s not exactly the old-school bidbot system—but it rhymes. These micro-economies offer flexibility, but they also risk repeating history.
Are we in a loop or an evolution?
The difference this time is governance. L2 communities set their own rules. These new bidbots have the potential to actually benefit the ecosystem by driving growth without sacrificing value if they strike a balance between quality control and promotion. Keep a close eye. Hive’s next wave of innovation might be wearing an old hat.