Good day, fellow Hive users! I hope you're all doing well.
As we all know, witnesses are the backbone of the Hive platform—the unsung heroes who ensure everything runs smoothly. They operate critical nodes that keep the platform alive and thriving. Without witnesses, Hive wouldn’t exist, and without us, there would be no content to share and engage with.
That's why I've created this special edition of "Meet Our Hive Witnesses."
This interview series aims to connect with our witnesses, giving you a closer look at the people who keep Hive running. We’ll dive into their work, motivations, and insights through a series of thoughtful questions.
In this episode, we’re excited to introduce our first witness interviewee, a seasoned witness and developer who goes by the name @KLYE
**Join me as I welcome @KLYE to the show...**
Read on to discover their unique perspective and learn more about the vital role they play in our community.
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@dhavey1~It's a great honor conversing with a hardworking witness like you on this first very episode of meet our Hive witness interview Edition 1 @KLYE
• Thanks @dhavey1
**#1**
**Q:** _Do you think Hive is prepared to handle a massive influx of users? If not, what areas need improvement to scale efficiently?_
**A:**
As it sits now, I see no reason why HIVE and the front ends such as **hive.blog** or **peakd.com** couldn't handle more users. As far as API calls go, the hardware and connection requirements are nothing insane.
From the last time I was looking at active daily stats, we were hovering around _1,100_ daily active posters. In our **STEEM** most popular times, we had well over _100x_ or more than that, just to put our current network load compared to peak load into perspective.
What percent of those are **LLM bots** shitposting **GPT** accounts' garbage is hard to say. I briefly considered making a script to do this and open-sourcing it, but I already have a disdain for what I consider valueless information shovelled into the chain in hopes of profit.
**#2**
**Q:** _What are the technical bottlenecks Hive faces today, and how are they being addressed?_
**A:**
Hive is based on a now **archeotech/ancient** blockchain technology called **Graphene**, which is effectively a decade-old blockchain technology at this point, released around _June 2015_, maybe slightly later.
There have been a number of witness server infrastructure **soft forks** over the years, but as far as user-facing improvements, we've not really seen any implementation or seizure of capability potential, as far as I have seen.
The code exists out there to upgrade the HIVE blockchain to be **proper smart contract capable/modern blockchain**. I do not think the long-term improvement of HIVE was ever even planned by the core devs; it may have been a product built to sell to another firm.
I do not foresee this **layer one smart contract execution** ability coming as a Hive blockchain improvement added into the core application anytime soon, sadly. It will almost certainly be a **side chain** developed to achieve this, as those capable either do not due to the effort required or because there is no real incentive for those not being paid a large amount for Hive dev to do it.
**#3**
**Q:** _How can Hive position itself as a leader in Web3 technologies?_
**A:**
**Web3**, in my opinion, was a marketing hype terminology used to label **decentralized networks** capable of decentralized computation. **HIVE/STEEM/Bitshares/Graphene** chains don't really have the capability of **network-level decentralized computing**.
Staple Web3 technologies simply put have never been available on these **Graphene chains** in the way HIVE is built, due to the fact they are basically just a **Decentralized RocksDB database** running pre-compiled scripts to do datatype filtering.
**Dan Larimer’s "EOS"** chain is what a **Graphene-based chain** would look like with a **decentralized "virtual machine"/computation/smart contract** ability baked in. And while clunky, it enables what I consider true "Web3" to be.
Keep in mind, **Web3** is effectively a **marketing term** with "hype" behind it, much like **chip fabs** measured in "**x nm (nanometer)**" are **bullshit** at this point, and how the ".com", "AI," and "tulip" bubbles produced a massive influx of capital followed by a crash of said investments in them.
Look at **Ethereum**, which, in my opinion, was the first "modern" blockchain and set the standard for the **absolute bare minimum** a blockchain needs to be interoperable—being **programmable** and capable of **computation and storage**. Hive is not.
**#4**
**Q:** _How can Layer 2 solutions be utilized to expand Hive’s functionality?_
**A:**
The one redeeming quality of the **Graphene-based chains** is the **"free transactions"** nature of them. This can be leveraged in immense means using the **HIVE/STEEM/Graphene** chains as a **"source of truth"**—an immutable database.
Look at the **Splinterlands** game spamming **HIVE "custom\_json"** operations on the **HIVE blockchain** to effectively provide a record and entry point of their **layer 2 interactions**. Something like _70%_ of operations on HIVE at one point were Splinterlands writing actions to the chain.
I do have a proper **Web3 side chain** under development (for what feels like god damn forever now, but I had to go into coding in medical software because unless you're one in the good graces of the **top 20**, you effectively develop for free) for HIVE that will allow us to become truly **interoperable** by transplanting the **Ethereum EVM smart contract** computation ability into a **Hive side chain**.
If all goes well, it should be running by **end of summer** (hopefully, my workload is **fucked** right now), which will allow us to not only build proper **HIVE-to-EVM** style chain bridges but also use our **HIVE** to run, interact, and deploy true **smart contract capability**.
The **Hive-Engine side chain** uses a **Javascript virtual machine** that runs in tandem on the **witness computers** parsing out **Base64 encoded Javascript**. While capable, at the end of the day, it isn’t much more than **Merkle tree/cryptographically hash-checked** bunch of servers running in tandem and using **deterministic cryptography** to ensure all the **witnesses** are on the same page, so to speak.
There are some serious security implications (remote code execution may be possible on HE witness systems) with their current implementation, but the fix would require a massive refactor. And while I'd love to refactor it to make it safe for witnesses to run, simply put the incentive is not there.. HE witnesses in top wo make like $3 a day.. That doesn't pay for the level of software engineering required to fix it.
### **#5**
**Q:** _How important is interoperability between Hive and other blockchain networks, and what steps should the community take in that direction?_
**A:**
**Interoperability** is far from a _buzzword_.
It effectively allows what otherwise would be a **"closed community"** island of a blockchain into something capable of **taking assets from HIVE and its side chains** and **"wrapping" them** using **graphene/EVM bridges** to be used on other chains like **Ethereum**.
There are **many valid methods** to achieve **cross-chain asset interoperability**...
But as of the time of writing this, **HIVE lacks the inbuilt ability to do this** and ultimately requires a **daemon (background program)** to be run on a **centralized server** to detect and facilitate swaps.
Once **I've got the EVM-capable Hive Side Chain** going, this **SHOULD allow the capability to fix this.**
### **#6**
**Q:** _What are your thoughts on integrating AI tools to improve user experience and community engagement?_
**A:**
**Slippery fucking slope there..!**
While I briefly looked into **developing a multi-agent AI/LLM/GPT detection agent** to monitor all posts and blogs on the chain, I was **never able to get false positives under the 1% mark**, making me **leery to deploy it.**
The **AIDAH account** may eventually monitor for **LLM/GPT garbage**...
But yeah, stuff like **AI image generation** I have **little issue with**.
But I know for a fact that **a lot of the shitposting we see on HIVE is automated, no human-in-the-loop AI/GPT/LLM trash posts.**
Not to say I find most of the **HIVE blog posts useful or even worth the space they take up on the chain,** but that is my own objective observation—perhaps others value **makeup tutorials and food reviews** more than I do. **lol**
The **lack of ability to filter out obvious AI-generated trash posts** and **self-upvote rings** incentivizes people to **automate posts and vote on themselves,** hoping to **catch the vote of others.**
**HIVE is highly gameable in this sense.**
### **#7**
**Q:** _What are the technical bottlenecks Hive faces today, and how are they being addressed?_
**A:**
As it sits, **the chain itself hasn't had a considerable technology upgrade** since the implementation of the **MIRA/RocksDB data storage method** on the **witness servers**—which **vastly sped up syncing nodes** by breaking away from strictly **single-threaded block verification** and moving to **batch/multi-thread capable syncing**.
It **used to take well over a WEEK** to sync a witness server, and **several weeks** to sync a **HIVE node** with all the **API plugins enabled**—now it takes **a few days**, a significant **quality of life / software infrastructure upgrade**.
But as far as **user-facing upgrades**, there **really hasn’t been** any, and a near majority of the **Top 20 Witnesses** are content to **profit** while only a **few actively work on updates**.
The fact that **HIVE** has had **over 26 versions of soft/hard forks** since its launch, yet **nobody in the top positions** has attempted to **modernize** or **build a proper EVM-compatible plugin** is **disturbing** to me. Unfortunately, calling out the **Top 20** for not doing much (though **a few are active in patches**) feels pointless when **they own enough stake to effectively govern** who remains in the **Top 20 / in favor**—which **kind of sucks**.
I understand that **people in power and profiting** from their positions will always try to **keep that income and power**, but it’s led to **stagnation in development** and **gatekeeping of the Decentralized Hive Fund (DHF / @hbd.fund)**.
If the **grandfathered Bitshares guys** from **Dan Larimer’s** era **don’t like you**, you’ll **never receive funding** to develop anything. In my case, I **called this out years ago** and **fell out of favor**—because **people in power don’t like being called parasites** who make **more money than value they provide** to the **Hive dev community**.
At the **end of the day**, people are people and will **almost ALWAYS do the least amount of effort for the most amount of return**.
Calling this out isn’t meant to call the guys doing this **complete pieces of shit**—it’s **human nature**, and I understand why they do it; **most would do the same in their position**.
In the case of the **HIVE large stakeholders,** the **DPoS design** itself **incentivizes this profiteering** and **lack of motivation to develop state**.
### **#8**
**Q:** _What innovations or updates do you think Hive should prioritize to remain competitive with other blockchain-based platforms?_
**A:**
As mentioned above, we’re still basically **our own little island** of what is **effectively not even modern crypto**.
The **lack of on-chain distributed computing and smart contract execution** is **the reason we’re not a top 20 market cap coin**. We **do not possess the minimum basics** of a **smart contract-capable “Web3” chain** as it stands.
Simply put, under the hood, the **graphene-based chains like HIVE** are running **decade-old tech** that **isn’t compatible** with **current standards** of **interoperable chains natively**.
I am **working on fixing this** with a **side chain** that will use the **native HIVE token** to power **EVM smart contract functionality**... But there are a **number of technical hurdles** to overcome before this can be achieved.
The idea is to **use HIVE as “gas” like ETH**, which would be **distributed amongst the witnesses running nodes**...
But until then, we’re **not really attractive**—we’re a **small community** with a **mere fraction of the active users** we had in the **STEEM hype days**.
It’s kind of **sad... But it is what it is**.
We’re **not competitive or attractive** in terms of **technology** and **chain governance is concerned**.
### **#9**
**Q:** _How can Hive position itself as a more eco-friendly blockchain?_
**A:**
The **computation power** needed to run the **Hive blockchain** and the **electricity used** is actually **pretty minimal!**
**Less than 10 kW**, in my opinion..!
We’re actually **incredibly eco-friendly** compared to a **Proof of Work (PoW) chain like BTC**.
In theory, the **entire HIVE witness node infrastructure** could be run on **21 servers** using **$400 old-generation Intel servers** at a cost of **maybe $30 of electricity a month**.
For **less than $10,000 USD,** you could set up a **graphene DPoS chain** with **all witnesses running their own dedicated machines**. Of that **$10,000**, **less than $800** would be the **electricity cost per year**, and the rest would cover **dedicated hardware costs**.
That said, **larger, more powerful servers** are needed to create **reliable API endpoints** to interact with **HIVE** without requiring users to run their own **HIVE node**.
All in all, the **DPoS model** and the **lack of specialized PoW mining machines** allow the **core blockchain of HIVE** to be run at a cost of **less than $1,000 worth of electricity a year**.
### **#10**
**Q:** _What steps are being taken to ensure Hive’s relevance in a rapidly evolving blockchain space?_
**A:**
As far as I can see, **beyond the odd HIVE developer** here or there trying to make **meaningful improvements via side chains** and the few **actually active Top 20 witnesses** (maybe **half of those guys are active devs,** the rest are **too entrenched** and **not able to be voted out** due to their **stake,** so they have **little incentive** to **change anything** or **work on blockchain improvements**) doing **soft/hard fork patches**, we **really haven't seen much** for **user-facing upgrades**.
Shortly after I announced **my EVM sidechain project,** I remember **Blocktrades** mentioning he was working on the same thing for the **main chain,** with something like **20 devs working on it...** This was **three years ago.** Interpret that as you will.
To be fair, **Blocktrades/Dan Notestein** isn’t a bad dude at all—he sometimes **takes steps to benefit blockchain users,** but he’s effectively the **gatekeeper** who **determines who is supported** by the **Decentralized Hive Fund (DHF / @hbd.fund)** and **who gets Top 20 spots.**
There is **no incentive** for the **"old boys club"**—those who were there from the start of **STEEM**—to act as **witnesses** and **do much**, so they **don’t**.
On the **flip side,** guys like **howo** (and **plenty of other good devs** in the **Top 20**) are **very active devs** for the **HIVE blockchain,** and I think **howo** **deserves all the profits he gets** as he’s been **actively contributing**.
It **boils down** to how **DPoS chains** like **HIVE** effectively **lack incentives** for those with the **largest stakes** to **do much**—there’s **no penalty** for being **inactive** in **HIVE blockchain dev** because the **"old boys club"** can **keep each other voted in** and **veto the entire rest of the community** holdings with their votes.
### **#11**
**Q:** _What security measures are currently in place to protect Hive from attacks, and how can they be enhanced?_
**A:**
The **Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism,** security-wise, for lack of a better term, is a **horrible joke** and a **delusion** to anyone thinking it’s a **true consensus security mechanism.**
There is **NOTHING** other than **Hive Power Stake "securing" the chain.** Look at **what happened with STEEM**—
We got **facerolled** by a guy **backed by the Chinese Communist Party** and his **Chinese-run exchange friends** by effectively **stealing custodial funds** on their **exchanges,** **powering them up** to **take over** and put **their own witnesses** in to **change consensus** and **power down rates**—giving the **exchange customers** back their funds in a **month instead of 13 weeks.**
That **glaring issue** and the fact we **saw our original chain taken over** for a **couple million dollars of investment** (buyout of the **Steemit Inc stake**) and a few **backroom deals colluding with exchanges** makes us look like a **joke**.
Sure, the **community remained,** but it **highlighted** that any talk of **security on DPoS chains** is **delusional.**
There **isn’t any security** for **DPoS chains**—any **state-level actor** or **millionaire** at any time could **buy up a large stake** and **take over,** enriching the **largest Hive Power holders** while **leaving the majority community** to **migrate to another chain.**
But alas, **those at the top** are **positioned to MASSIVELY profit** from a **staked asset attack,** so **see it as no issue.** For the record, I don’t think **@Ned** did the **wrong thing** by **selling his stake,** as the **community was toxic** to him—most of us would have **done the same.**
Sadly, the **“security” of a Delegated Proof of Stake chain** is merely a **lie we tell ourselves.** For **undeniable proof of this,** look at how **Sun Yuchen/Justin Sun** managed to **completely PWN** the original **STEEM chain** simply by **colluding with exchanges** and **buying out the CEO stake of STEEM.**
**TLDR:** Our **consensus mechanism isn’t secure at all.** Any **“consensus security”** you can **throw capital at to defeat** isn’t **actual blockchain security.** This is a **design flaw** in my opinion, and **if it was done on purpose** with the plan to **sell the Steemit Inc stake** initially—who knows...
### **#12**
**Q:** _How can Hive tap into the growing DeFi trend without losing focus on its core vision?_
**A:**
As it stands right now, the **chain needs proper decentralized EVM smart contracts** or even **WASM (WebAssembly) contract execution** (like how **KOIN and EOS** do it) **before we can even talk DEFI / Decentralized Finance** in any **realistic manner.**
As for the **core vision** of a blockchain acting as a **decentralized database** to **store JSON and HTML** to be **rendered** into **popular frontends** like **Hive.Blog** or **Peakd.com**—
It’s **basically done that since day one.**
Besides a **few changes** to the **compatible databases** the **blockchain supports,** there **really hasn’t been** a **fundamental upgrade** to the **chain’s base functions** as far as the **users are concerned.**
### **#13**
**Q:** _Do you think the current monetization model on Hive is sustainable? What changes, if any, would you recommend?_
**A:**
One **MASSIVE issue** I have is how the **HIVE Top 20** pivoted to **soft fork a new version** shortly after the **STEEM takeover**, where the **Hive Power holders/voters’ curation pay** was **increased from 25% to 50%** of the shown reward amount. This move was **kind of appalling.**
This was **pushed through** as a way for **those holding the largest bags and running the chain** to **extract more value** from the **people posting on the chain and using it.**
When **wealthy individuals**—who can, for lack of a better term, **collude and combine their Hive Power holdings** to keep their **cabal in power**—then **increase the yield of their HP voting power curation payouts by 100%,** something **fundamentally** has been **lost** from the way **STEEM** was initially **marketed and sold by Dan Larimer.**
At the **end of the day,** those who came over from **Dan Larimer’s** previous **Graphene-based chain, BitShares,** and held **witness positions** since the start due to this **“Old Boys Club”** dictate **what happens on the chain**—and frankly, they don’t always act in ways that **enrich the community** but rather **themselves.**
Such is **human nature**—**humans in positions of power** will **exploit any means necessary** to **maintain that power.**
Calling this out **instantly makes you a pariah** and **dries up any HIVE blockchain funding** for your **dev work,** because **no one likes getting called out for collusion,** understandably.
That being said, **not all** the **Top 20 witnesses** exhibit the **parasitic nature** of the **long-established guys;** some of them are **legitimately trying** to **make the chain better.**
By and large, however, the way the **DPoS chain consensus** is set up, once **someone has a large enough stake,** there **isn’t enough stake** in the **entire rest of the community** to **dislodge these guys.**
**My recommendation** is to **remove all witness payment HP/HIVE validity** in the **EVM side chain,** effectively **knee-capping the monopoly** and **gatekeeping** we see **the largest stakeholders exhibit.**
The way it’s set up now, a **person wanting to have a say** would need to **buy a TON of stake** to **dislodge these guys,** which would **enrich them.** You generally don’t feel **inclined** to **pay people you view as sitting pretty with their thumbs up their...** just to have **some voting say** that **matters** against their **stake/collusion/old boys club.**
The **consensus mechanism** was **either designed like this on purpose** or **Dan Larimer was naive or idealistic** in thinking some sort of **balanced, community-based voting system** would actually **work when money and profit are involved.**
### **#14**
**Q:** _How do witnesses collaborate to solve community-wide issues, and what can be done to improve this process?_
**A:**
There are a **few awesome witnesses**: guys like **someguy123, howo, timcliff, deathwing, good-karma, quochuy, therealwolf, arcange, emrebeyler, anyx, jesta, drakos,** and a **few others (<3 pharesim)** who have **worked their asses off** **maintaining and updating the HIVE blockchain codebase** and **building out side chains, use cases, and HIVE applications.**
There are **other valuable witnesses** as well. The **lack of mention here** shouldn’t be **interpreted as criticism,** and I **apologize** to any of the **developer assets** I **failed to mention.** The ones **making an honest effort** to **improve the HIVE blockchain** as a **whole** know **who they are**... **AND** the ones **sitting there, being massively overpaid** for running what is essentially a **background application on a cheap Linux server** and **making very little to no effort** to **make meaningful improvements** also **know who they are.**
Sadly, the **low-effort, high-stake-holding individuals** are the ones who have the **final say** on **who ends up in higher witness positions** or **who gets Decentralized Hive Fund (DHF / @hbd.fund)** support—
Meaning you **“shut the fuck up and tow the line,”** not **calling out what is effectively organized corruption** and **market cap extraction** on the **backs of folks trying to make cash blogging.**
With all that **potentially scathing shit** being said, I’ve **observed** some **public-facing strategies** the **top guys** have been using to **"patch the holes"** (@hbdstabilizer, @hbd.funder initiatives come to mind) in the **market cap.**
But is it to **maintain their "bags" holding value,** address issues with the **pegged currency script,** or **help the HIVE blockchain itself?**
**Hard to say.** It **isn’t necessarily mutually exclusive.** Even the **most guilty** of **self-interest-rooted actions** affecting the chain have at one time or another **been an asset** via **development or application invention**—but they’ve been **more than compensated** in time for this, **in my opinion.**
The **witness community itself** is **quite small** and not exactly **all in lockstep,** but when **shit goes bad**—like **chain crashes** and **similar bullshit**—we **put our differences aside** and **fix it as a team,** regardless of being **allies or wary of each other.**
Albeit, there is **massive incentive** for anyone **over witness rank #70 or so** to **do this** as it’s **impacting their profits.**
### **#15**
**Q:** _How can Hive balance encouraging mass adoption while maintaining high-quality content and engagement?_
**A:**
Bit of a **cynic/asshole** in my views on this one, but the **majority of content** I see on **HIVE** is, for **lack of a better term, garbage** that **very few people find valuable.**
The fact that we **incentivize “content for the sake of content”** and tend to **form little auto-voting cliques**—either by **interacting** or because they **see others vote on it** and **try to maximize their curation Hive Power APR percentage**—is **all over the place.**
When we were STEEM and making waves as something new and innovative, being featured on CNN and hadn't yet been shown to be about as secure as a broken window, the potential for mass adoption and active user accounts could at times be well over 100,000 or more users posting a day.. These days we're lucky to have over 1200 active accounts and lord knows how many of those are actually writing posts of value, or how many of those are GPT bots shitposting or Splinterlands players.. I could modify some chain statistics scripts I have to quantify this stuff, but I almost garentee you that the results wouldn't be particularly encouraging nor data that would help with mass adoption. A lot of the community on here, like the real OG STEEM refugees that have migrated here, are fucking awesome people.. Had some really good convos over the years and met long time friends. However remember there is a monetary incentive to be friendly in hopes of votes / payout.. knowing ones true intent is difficult on the net.
Frankly it's not out of the realm of possibility of people actively using social engineering to manipulate their followers or readers into spending one of their votes on their posts over anothers, not saying all users are like this, but sociopaths exist and we have a number of them running around on the blockchain.
### **#16**
**Q:** _What can Hive do to attract and support more developers to build apps and tools on the platform?_
**A:**
**Honestly,** the **incentive to build on HIVE** as a **developer,** assuming you have **zero understanding** of the **high-stake individual skewed politics** and **"old boys club" monopoly** in the **consensus bullshit,** simply put, is **being able to spam JSON to a blockchain every 3 seconds** for what amounts to a **trivial investment** of **Hive Power or Resource Credits.**
**Hive and its Graphene-based roots** are a **non-standard blockchain technology** with its own **highly proprietary blockchain operations.** It is an **outlier** when compared to **popular blockchains** based on **Bitcoin or Ethereum,** which, as **individual cryptocurrency types** and **intent,** all **share RPC and method calls.**
**HIVE isn’t like that.** Neither **EVM/Solidity contracts** nor **Bitcoin-Core standard RPC calls** work on **Graphene chains.**
So, there is a **barrier to entry** **knowledge-wise,** with the **reward** being **able to spam free operations to the chain** for like... **$10 USD or less worth of investment.**
### **#17**
**Q:** _Are there any partnerships you think Hive should pursue to expand its ecosystem?_
**A:**
The fact **we're not using the > $23,000,000 USD** worth of holdings in the **Decentralized Hive Fund (DHF)** and currently use **~15.5K out of a potential $234,000 daily budget** to **actively develop, market,** and **create strategic partnerships,** and **don’t have people on payroll** as a chain with **supposed community-based consensus** **says a fuck ton.**
A **dozen or more marketers or influencers on the payroll** in my opinion is a **prime example** of those with the **voting power** to enable these things either **not giving a fuck and/or being lazy,** or simply **not understanding** that **we lack any real tangible technology** that would make the **investment of outside capital attractive.**
That all being said, **at the current state of the blockchain technology,** the **true effect** of **spending money** on **strategic partnerships and marketing** would, **at best,** cause **short-term market cap increases.** Anyone who starts **digging deeper** into **how it works behind the scenes** and the **fucked politics** behind the **Top 20 Witness stuff** would likely **avoid any serious partnership or investment** in my **objective opinion.**
**HIVE Blockchain** is a **great fit** for something like a **video game** wishing to **track and save data** pertaining to their **game mechanics,** provided **you aren’t using it as "real-time" storage** but rather **long-term "proof of" reference.**
I, however, **sadly do not believe** the **HIVE blockchain** in its **current state** can be **seriously considered** by **potential partners** for **DeFi/FinTech** or **applications dealing with large amounts of capital,** given its **DPOS consensus system** does not provide **security** in regards to **maintaining access to the data,** but **merely acts as a control and enrichment mechanism** at best.
To **even get dev funding** and access **Decentralized Hive Funds,** you need **over 37,000,000 Hive Power MINIMUM** worth of support. If you can even find a **public HIVE rich list** these days, you’ll **notice the disparity** between the **"old boys club"** and **normal users,** which **doesn’t allow** for the **community** to **outvote the dozen or so guys** you have to **convince to pay you.**
### **#18**
**Q:** _How can Hive make itself appealing to businesses and enterprises looking to adopt blockchain technology?_
**A:**
For a **small business** looking to **dip their toes into blockchain technologies,** or say use the **HIVE blockchain** as an **external backup** for some sort of **non-critical data** they wish to make **accessible to others**... **Yeah, HIVE has some potential there.**
As for **enterprise or corporate uptake,** _it's never gonna fucking happen_ given the **nature of the consensus mechanism** as well as the **lack of customization and control** over the **blockchain itself.**
By the time a **large enterprise** had **bought up enough Hive Power Stake** to have **control over the blockchain** enough to **put shareholders at ease,** it would have been **orders of magnitudes cheaper** just to **fork HIVE into their own project** and **code in exactly what they need.**
The **cost/benefit/risk business calculus** simply put is **not compatible** with **serious enterprises or corporations** to consider.
For **small businesses or hobbyist developers** not entirely concerned about **data security** and that the **HIVE chain** effectively operates as an **autocracy,** it's **not a bad choice** due to the **"free" write operations** allowed by the chain with **minimal investment.**
**Example wise:**
- Using **HIVE blockchain** as a **decentralized HTML page content storage network** or as an **"IPFS" like service** for **Text/JSON strings** to then later **fetch and display on your website.**
- Using **HIVE Blockchain** to **publish and store whistleblower leaks** that would otherwise be **purged from the internet.**
It's still **not a perfect or frankly optimal setup** for this though.
For **whistleblowers, journalists,** and other **sensitive information handling work,** **HIVE** has a **bit of potential** sure, however, **we need to be realists about it**... **data persistence** and **chain security** ultimately **cannot be 100% assured** with **DPOS,** as at the **end of the day,** a **state-level or large corporation** can, has, and would **get enough stake** to **vote in their puppet witnesses** and **do whatever they want** to **censor or edit the chain data.**
Nothing is **stopping governments** from **leaning on exchanges** to use **custodial funds** to **attack consensus,** buying up **stake to take over,** or **launching raids** to **seize the witness servers.**
Hell, you could **share something like torrent links to pirated software on HIVE** if that is your **business model** and **leverage that "illegal" data** not being on **your servers,** but **"in the cloud on HIVE"** so to speak.
I **love the HIVE community** for the **most part...** But the **rose-colored glasses** and the **delusion** of **HIVE being a secure and democratic/community-run chain** simply put only serve to **further entrench us** into **accepting the complete and utter lack of fucks** given by **those in power** to **put the work in,** **swallow their egos,** and **fund more development, innovation, marketing, etc., etc., etc...**
Having **non-active developers/Witnesses** not providing **any value,** the **best move** for the **community** is to **step the fuck down** and **spread your stake among the active HIVE users** and **let them govern...**
This will **NEVER happen though,** because there is **no immediate penalty** to them **being unproductive.** They can all **vote each other into the Top 20** and the **community** does not and **will never earn the stake** to **oppose this...**
Say a **Top 20 witness** is **printing money for effectively free,** with them offering **zero continued value or support** in regards to **further development of the chain,** that is **almost always what will happen.**
**Blockchain app development,** **consensus methodology,** **security,** and things like **politics behind the scenes** are **complex as fuck** to get right and **almost always end up more complex than required.**
I've got a **few HIVE blockchain applications** that have been **in the development pipeline for a couple of years now,** it's **not for lack of want** to **release these,** but rather the **utter lack of ability** for me to **pay for the development and testing time** required to **finish and launch them.**
After a **long break** from **HIVE** having had to **go into other development fields** and coming back to **see basically nothing** had been **improved upon** is kind of **sad honestly.** Came back to **finish projects** and see **who is still around,** ultimately the **community** is the **real value** for me here.
It's been **a decade and like 27 versions of HIVE** and we're **reaaaaally not that fucking closer** to even being a **bog-standard minimum blockchain method compliant chain.**
**Guys on top aren’t going to change that,** neither are **people posting about it...**
At the **end of the day,** the **HIVE community is awesome,** the **technology and consensus** of it though **aren't modern nor attractive** to **anyone who really looks into it.**
### **#19**
**Q:** _Some users feel the reward system benefits large stakeholders disproportionately. Do you agree? If so, how can it be balanced?_
**A:**
**Yep.** Those in **power colluding** to **pay themselves 100% more for curation** out of the **pockets of the people** _"creating the value"_ or **creating the illusion** of the **technology being used and successful** is **fucking corruption and greed, plain and simple.**
Not a **personal attack** against the **people perpetrating this,** I've certainly **pointed this out** for a **while now,** and while I **used to think** the **guys behind it** were **fucking goons,** after a while I realized it’s **just human nature** to **corner markets,** **make monopolies,** and **exploit** whatever you can for **profit.**
We do this to the **planet with resource mining,** we do this on **blockchain DEFI** making what are **effectively Ponzi schemes,** we do this **selling morons the next best NFT,** etc., etc., etc. **Blockchain** is just a means of **persisting a ledger or database** across a **network** so there is **no single point of failure.** The way it’s **leveraged** for people to **enrich themselves** is often **morally bankrupt.**
I am **sure** the **VAST majority** of people in **their position** would do the **exact same goddamn thing.**
**Fact of the matter is:**
- The **entire consensus mechanism** and **setup of HIVE** wasn’t **entirely thought out,** or was **literally designed** to **enrich those in from block one** and then **sold as a product** to **someone else** _(which is EXACTLY what happened with STEEM)_ for **profit** to **fund development of the next thing,** or **your yacht** or **whatever.**
- Our **society/civilizations** tend to **reward ruthless, selfish,** **sociopathic** and frankly **self-interested actions** with **capital,** enforcing that **making money** is **more important** than **improving the species’ experience** as a **whole.**
For this reason, I **no longer actively loathe** those **perpetrating this shit...** I mean, it’s **shitty,** but **it is what it is.**
I would say **less than 5%** of people that **find themselves** in **positions of great power** do **not use it** to **enrich themselves** in some way rather than **using that power** to **enrich others.**
### **#20**
**Q:** _What tools or features can be added to make content creation and engagement easier for writers and creators?_
**A:**
**Hard to say...** Personally, I find the **setup of Peakd.com** about the **pinnacle of a HIVE blockchain front end,** but it does **leave a lot to be desired** after the **front end** and **HIVE chain itself sanitize** the **strings stored.**
When we do get the **ability to use our HIVE on other chains** through a **truly decentralized and secure implementation** of **EVM/WASM smart contract execution,** it will **allow for a lot more,** but **ultimately as it sits,** it **serves as a place to shitpost for a few shekels if you are lucky.**
The **core idea of HIVE** isn't **bad.**
- A **blockchain to blog on** is **neat,**
- **Free transactions** are **neat,**
- The fact it’s used to **contain a community's collective thoughts and ramblings** is **neat.**
However, the **idealist/naive/flawed design** of the **blockchain straight from the start,** the **complete lack** of things like **majority-based voting consensus,** and the **underlying issue** that **human nature** in all its **glory and darkness** can be **monetized in moral and immoral ways** are **problems.**
It’s also **important to remember** that _"Nothing ever gets deleted once it’s posted on the Internet,"_ and **blockchain** takes that **ethos** and _"cranks that up to 11"_ by **cryptographically and decentrally storing your data** to **later be used against or for you...**
It's **probably not within the realm of fantasy** to be able to **psychoanalyze a person** by their **HIVE posts alone...**
And while there is **some amazing art, fantasy writing, stories, shares of knowledge, public service announcements,** and other forms of **valuable stuff on HIVE...**
For the **most part,** I'm still **kind of a cynic/asshole** and **side with the idea** that **most of the shitposts on HIVE are low or no quality.**
This **100% includes my own posts;** a lot of them are just me **using HIVE to track my productive hours, bookmark YouTube videos or music I like,** or **overshare shit to strangers.**
The **community** is the **most valuable part** of all of this at the **end of the day for me.**
Having to **pivot to other software fields** for **calling out the shit** I’ve **mentioned here** was me **deciding to speak out** instead of being a **Machiavellian ass-kisser** and **appealing to the "old boys club" in hopes of their blessing.**
@dhavey1~ It is awesome finally having you on the show @KLYE. Thanks so much for creating time for meet our Hive witness.
Do have a wonderful day 🤝🏻
@KLYE • Thanks for having me
As Hive users we need to do everything in our power to choose witnesses that will represent the community well. Before voting make sure you do some research on the people you are voting for and be informed. Head over to https://wallet.hive.blog/~witnesses and click on some of the witnesses names, get to know them a bit better and do your part to make sure this community thrives.
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*please vote for @KLYE today!*
Stay tuned for more insightful conversations in our **"Meet Our Hive Witnesses"** series!
Thank you for reading, and remember to **support your witnesses—your vote matters!**
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