We can feel the accelerating nature of Hive.
Things are starting to heat up. If we look around the ecosystem, it is evident things are starting to grow, especially when it comes to development. This is natural as people use the foundation that is in place to build other things.
Often, we use the analogy of Hive to a forest. The reason for this is it describes in a way most can identify with how an organic, complex system grows.
Under this scenario, we take a cleared field. Nothing is on it and the grass is well maintained. Then it starts to get ignored. Over time, the grass grows to the point where it is a foot or so long. Small rodents are able to burrow in there, forming homes. At the same time, green sprouts start to pop out of the ground which will eventually becomes trees.
We can follow this process through to the trees getting bigger, bushes forming around the base, and more wildlife moving in. As the years pass, nature takes over, with a seemingly unrelated series of events all contributing to the expansion of the ecosystem.
Hive is very similar. Like the forest, nothing operates in isolation. While it appears that everything is disconnected, it really is not. In fact, there is a powerful inter-connectedness that is only realized after a certain point is reached.
What point are we at in our analogy? That is hard to pinpoint. However, we certain can say we are seeing a lot of green sprouts forming.
We recently got two new developments which expands the offering we have on Hive.
Internal Exchange
Since we cover the Hive Backed Dollar (HBD) so frequently, it is only natural that we bring up the Internal Exchange. This is a true DEX that operates at the base layer of Hive. It allows people to swap between the two coins of the ecosystem: HBD and $HIVE.
This is something that was overlooked for a long time. This is natural since HBD itself was ignored for years. It is only within the last 18 months or so that the stablecoin started to receive some attention. Here we see a move that will naturally make the Internal Exchange that much more important.
This is a feature of Hive that is on the blockchain. For that reason, anyone can access it with their applications. Like posts and comments, it only requires an application to make it a part of their features.
Of course, there is also the option of simply building a front end that is for the DEX itself. That is exactly what took place.
Most often people access the Internal Exchange through Hive Wallet. This now has a companion in Hivedex. As we can see this is a site that is dedicated solely to Internal Exchange.
Anyone who dealt with exchanges before should be familiar with this layout.
This comes on the heels of HiveHub which is a development from the team behind Peakd. This can be accessed directly or is linked in the wallet of that front end.
It is interesting this has a Pancakeswap feel to it. Those who used DEX on Ethereum and the other EVMs should be familiar with this.
Why is this important?
There are a couple reasons. The first starts with resiliency. Hive is flying under radar at the moment. This might not always be the case. Having a multitude of ways to access the features on the blockchain is vital. If something happened to Hive Wallet, what would the community do? Now we have a couple other options. Throughout the rest of the year, it is likely we see other apps including the Internal Exchange into their applications.
The second reason why I feel this is vital is because it is something we need to get in front of people. HBD is the community's stablecoin. It can be used to purchase $HIVE. This is how most should be approaching it. The conversion mechanism is not for the average person. If one is swapping out a few thousand HBD, the Internal Market is the place.
Here is one of the main areas where we need to focus upon liquidity. If we can get the volume up to a couple million dollars per day, that will go a long way to providing people a means to swap the coins efficiently.
Hive Spaces?
We all know the success of Twitter Spaces. Was something similar just added to Hive?
There is now a podcasting applications called Cast Garden. It is a development of the Hive-Tube.
According to the website, it is bring Hive's Proof-of-Brain (PoB) to podcasting. Of course, this automatically brings up the Podping project which is tied to this. All podcasts using this application are sent out via this protocol, just like with 3Speak.
The problem with podcasting is most of the industry is controlled by the indexing. Since that is run by a few mega-tech corporations, we can see how it is easy to "bury" people. This is something that Podping set out to resolve.
It appears Cast Garden takes it a step further by offering a platform where all are on equal footing with what they put up.
Naturally, since this deals with audio and video, this is not directly on Hive, which is text only. However, it does look like the posts appear, similar to how 3Speak works. It is using the technology of Peertube but obviously catering to Hive.
Basically we are looking at Hive becoming a true multi-media platform. If the goal is to take on the mega-tech companies dominating the social media realm, Hive is starting to form a diverse foundation of offerings.
The Impact
While none of these are game changers, it is another step in the evolution. Hive is a grow ecosystem. Going back to our original analogy, these are a couple more green sprouts in the field. We will see how large these trees get.
However, as we can see, the disconnect actually becomes united. Podping was created on its own, in the wild if you will, and now is being incorporated into this application. This is how things grow together.
Much of what we do is still internal focused. However, by offering more to Hive users, the ability to create and generate content expands. Over time, that will filter outwards, both to new users and those not associated with Hive.
We all want the quick hits, the viral solution that pulls in millions of people. That is a point that will be reached at some point. However, before we get there, we have to grind. Development is key and we see it growing before our eyes.
There were a couple new developments added to Hive. This is becoming a trend.
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