I have my own perceptions as to how the blockchain operates (or rather, should operate) and as usual... this is not financial advice. lol
Layer two Tokens are dApp Arcade Tokens. Well, not literally, but that's my analogy. Layer 2 Tokens are there to be spent on Layer 2 products, created by the dev that issues them, whether they be physical products or services revolving around the dev's products. Just like you go to an arcade, stick your money into a machine and get Tokens used to play the games, and then can earn Tickets to buy products, Layer 2 devs need to work out these mechanics for their products. To date, not much you can do with Layer 2 Tokens but hold them, stake them or trade them off to someone else. EXCEPT... Splinterlands, for the most part, which has latched on to the idea of actually using their Tokens as a means of exchange in their game and because of that, they dominate the volume charts. Now they are not likely the only ones, but since I keep my eye on the volume charts, they are in your face with the amount of volume they do. That's my take on Layer 2 Tokens.
HIVE is like the chlorophyll of the blockchain. It's the organ than makes all the layer 2 Tokens exchange into each other, and it also nourishes HBD, which is the real Heart of the Blockchain, though I'm not sure it has been realized yet.
HBD is the Heart of the Blockchain. Why? Because whether anyone has built anything to realize this or not, it is the Blockchain's Token to the outside world. It's a seudo-stable representation of $1.00 and ripe to be the blockchain's currency into a global, external to the blockchain, economy. I can use it as a safe, trusted medium of exchange to buy a car from Italy, gemstones from Africa and Australia, a house in North Carolina and even a gold bar from Dubai. And people will trust the exchange because it's value is trusted to remain roughly the same, or at least return to a norm. People argue that the interest rate is too high. That's only because HBD isn't being utilized the way (I believe) it should. If it was, people would understand that it is WAY underfunded. Imagine when HBD changes hands in volumes of one million to one billion, or more, a day for products and services all over the world.
That's where people's eye's need to be focused. In order to get there, though... Layer two devs have got to get their Tokens economized to encourage trade and provide purchases that people wish to make. HBD might be the exchange medium that encourages people to trade and conduct business off the blockchain, but Layer 2 is the street market where these buyers and sellers will meet each other.