I had one of those eureka moments yesterday. Or at least, I think I did. I’m putting this out there to see if I’m onto something, or if I’ve accidentally mixed my cereal with cleaning products. You tell me.
As someone who genuinely believes in this chain and the power of HBD, I’ve long felt we could be doing more. Playing around with @snapnpay gave me the first building blocks. Then @starkerz pointed me to hivedebit.com, and I saw how ridiculously simple their Point of Sale system is. Naturally, I went down the rabbit hole — watched the videos, checked out how NFC cards work for payments, how you set them up, the whole deal.
I had talked to my brother @joseamenac about all this. For a second, he thought we’d figured out how to create a VISA or Mastercard with HBD. I had to burst his bubble. It’s still crypto. Also: fuck VISA.
But I get why he got excited. It would be a game changer. And while I know @zypto is on a similar quest, I’m still not fully sold on leaning too hard on banks. I want out. Fully. No compromise.
That’s when the idea started forming. My wife woke me up at 3 a.m. (no comment), and I couldn’t fall back asleep. So I did what any reasonable person would do: I started writing a white paper.
What I’ve come up with might be something. Or it might be a late-night delusion written in a sleep-deprived haze. That’s where you come in. I’m sharing it here, raw and ready, for the Hive community to tear apart, stress test, improve — or maybe, just maybe, help bring to life.
So, here it goes…
Abstract:
This white paper outlines a sustainable, scalable rewards system built on the Hive blockchain, designed to make cryptocurrency invisible to end users. The model utilizes NFC cards linked to Hive accounts, leverages Hive's inflationary upvote system to fund cashback incentives, and provides real-world businesses with a reason to adopt crypto without needing their customers to understand or interact with it directly.
1. Introduction
Cryptocurrency adoption faces a major bottleneck: usability. Most people don't want to deal with wallets, keys, or exchanges. What if they didn't have to? This project proposes a loyalty and rewards system that eliminates all the technical friction. By using Hive-backed NFC cards preloaded with HBD, customers interact with a crypto-powered economy without ever knowing it.
The goal is simple: stretch people’s money, not their patience.
2. Core Concept
We issue NFC cards that act as simple membership cards. These cards are preloaded with Hive accounts and some HBD, and linked to a backend app that manages spending, cashback rewards, and account posting authority.
When a customer spends HBD using the card at a participating business, they receive automatic cashback — no crypto knowledge required. The magic happens through on-chain comments, upvotes, and beneficiary splits that cycle Hive inflation to fund the rewards.
No seed phrases. No wallets. No apps. Just tap and earn.
3. Technical Stack
NFC card holds the active key of a Hive account.
Hivedebit.com is used to encode the key and enable tap-to-pay functionality.
Rewards App (to be built) watches the blockchain for transactions from registered accounts.
When a transaction is detected:
The app makes a comment on a designated Hive community post (a container, like hive snaps).
Comment contains purchase metadata (e.g., amount, vendor, user).
Beneficiaries are assigned as follows:
- 70% to the App (to recycle vote power)
- 10% to the Vendor
- 20% remains with the user account or is left null
The comment is upvoted using the App’s Hive Power.
The App sends cashback in liquid HBD (6–10%) to the user's account.
4. Incentive Design
Customers:
- Get 6–10% cashback in HBD per purchase
- Don't need to know or manage crypto
- Reload card at the business or another vendor in the network
Vendors:
- Earn 10% of post rewards from the transactions they accept
- Receive more foot traffic from card holders
- Can optionally convert HBD or spend it within the ecosystem
The App:
- Receives 70% of comment rewards
- Uses this income to fund vote power, maintain operations, and scale
Curators:
- Still earn their share from upvoting activity (50% of all post value)
- Incentivized to support this use-case organically
5. Security and Recovery
- Hivedebit already implements PIN protection on card usage and daily limits.
- Cards can be issued with sealed paper backups (username + key)
- Optionally, encrypted backups of account keys are stored by vendors or backend
- Recovery via proof-of-purchase or keyword phrase possible
- If card and backup are both lost, and no recovery method was opted into, funds are unrecoverable
6. Example Scenario
Maria buys a $5 Hive Rewards Card from a bakery. The card is already loaded with 5 HBD and linked to the rewards app.
She taps the card to buy $3 worth of bread. The app detects the transaction, posts a proof comment, and votes it.
A few minutes later, she receives 0.24 HBD back as cashback.
The vendor earns a small cut from the comment, paid in seven days. The app recycles its vote. The system keeps going.
7. Scalability
Initial launch can support up to 2–3 businesses using ~200k HP. As HP scales (via stakeholders or DHF support), more vendors and users can be added. The model is sustainable as long as the upvotes produce enough value to cover cashback and ops.
This is not a Ponzi. It is a closed-loop system that reinvests Hive inflation to fund real-world value.
8. Next Steps
- Build Rewards App (or script/bot to start)
- Design first two pilot programs with selected vendors
- Create community on Hive to house container posts
- Initial Funding/Support secured
- Monitor, iterate, scale
9. Conclusion
Hive has long had the tools for real-world commerce. What's been missing is the abstraction. This project proposes exactly that: an invisible crypto layer that anyone can use, regardless of technical knowledge. A grandma could use this.
The Hive Rewards Card makes crypto silent, but powerful.
What credit card pays 6-8% cashback on all purchases?
Afterword
As I said in the intro, I’m putting this out there because all ideas — especially the ambitious ones — need to be stress tested. I’m in the middle of wrapping up other projects (as some of you may know), but if this resonates, it’s absolutely something I’d move into the pipeline. That is, of course, if there’s a shared understanding of the goal here.
I genuinely believe this could drive real demand for HBD. And like I’ve said before, that’s how we make it. If you're skeptical, I urge you — take a few minutes and research why Starbucks Gift Cards are considered one of the most genius financial plays the company ever pulled. You’ll see the parallel.
Can’t wait to read your comments, my friends.
MenO