Many question what is it going to take to make Hive excel?  What is going to draw people, and money, in?  

These are valid questions that are worthy of answering.  Fortunately, I think we are already in the process of seeing the development which provides the tools for this.

Hive came into being as a blogging platform.  That was a fine starting point but that is all it was.  This might upset some of the "traditionalists" yet that is the way it is.  Evolution and growth is vital.

Blogging is a major market.  It also accounts for only a small portion of the Internet.  Most people are not serious writers, journalists, or long-form content creators.  Certainly there are enough to make this place excel yet, as we know, there is a great deal of difficulty in pulling them over from wherever they are present posting content.

That does not mean, of course, that there is no place for it.  There definitely is.  The foundation should not be forgotten nor overlooked.  Hive has a distribution system that is not common which does allow for people to get rewarded for their content.  That is something that should continue.  Of course, with more layer 2 solutions, that only grows.

However, that should not be the end of our focus.  Hive is already a lot more than just blogging.  We are seeing a thriving gaming culture starting to form.  This is a market that far exceeds the bloggers of the world.  With an estimated 2 billion gamers globally, we are talking about 40% of the Internet traffic.

But again, that is a small part of the puzzle.

When it comes to brass knuckles, here is the real deal that is captured in this headline.

<center>![title.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmPZZVPJSDdjcFY2canDAUA8aJURfGomnmcEmSXP4as1GP/title.png)
[Source](https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-larger-than-facebook-market-cap-money-network-social-network/)</center>

Money network more valuable than social network.  Is it any wonder that DeFi is starting to garner so much attention?

Bitcoin obviously operates in a world unto its own.  This coin has many different attributes to it that separate it from everything else.  Bitcoin is looking like it is going to be a reserve upon which a lot of financial networks will be build.

However, that is not the only game in town.  Other blockchains, like Ethereum, are excelling because of the financial applications being built.  Through the use of Smart Contracts, we are seeing a completely new financial system being erected.

Cryptocurrency offers the possibility for outsized returns (called Alpha in the financial world).  This is something that Hive needs to tap into.  Growing the wealth basis is a certain way to attract attention and draw in users.

As stated, there is some development underway that is moving in this direction.  We know that Smart Contract capability is being looked into.  We already have it with Hive-Engine, however, the goal is to head towards more decentralization.  With all the tyrannical steps undertaken in the world over the past 10 months, it is a good idea to try and limit the points of vulnerability.

# Is Everything About Money?

The answer to that is no.  

Cryptocurrency is about embarking upon a journey to provide more freedom to people around the world.  It is also about laying the foundation for further entry into Web 3.0.  Everything that is being developed on Hive, as well as other blockchains, feeds into this.

However, we cannot escape the fact that the world is still monetarily driven.  Thus, we cannot ignore the potential markets that are already established yet looking for disruption.  Certainly, not many are bigger than the financial services industry.  

After all, how many industries talk in terms of trillions.

Of course, what really makes this concept even more powerful is that it is an industry that is merging with another that deals in trillions, technology.

While not quite at that level, we are seeing the potential for Hive to carve out a niche in a similar manner.  We see Ethereum making great strides yet hindered by its inability to scale at the moment.  Transaction fees can get outrageous very quickly.  The same holds true for Bitcoin.

Hive offers the ability to solve both those problems, at least to a degree.  When we understand that this is a system driven by Resource Credits, not individual transaction fees, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

Consider it this way.  Hive essentially offers a "subscription model for fees".  If one spends $50 at today's prices, he or she will never have to worry about transaction fees again at the blockchain level.  That will provide more then enough ability to trade and transact on a daily basis, no matter how active the trader.

To contrast that, $50 was one transaction on Ethereum last week.

# The Exponential Factor: Layering

This is something few look at when it comes to the financial world but here is where the numbers get absolutely sick.

I like to use the term layering to denote what takes place.  Essentially, assets serve as an underlying layer for what is built on top.  It is similar to what we see with technology such as where an application like 3Speak laid on top of Hive.

The best example of this is index funds.  This is ideally suited for people who do not have the time, nor inclination, to study individual companies. Therefore, they simply buy a unit in the index fund which goes out and buys all the stocks that is part of the fund.  

Sadly, too much of this can lead to zombie assets being propped us, a situation we see today.  Funds of this nature buy based upon algorithmic determinations, not looking at the individual companies.  Nevertheless, until the state of over exposure in this form is reached, it is a powerful way to build financial value.

With cryptocurrency and the ability to operate in a peer-to-peer fashion, we no longer need Wall Street institutions to do this.  Anyone can set up a fund of this nature.  We already see a number of them on Hive with more on their way.  Thus, just like anyone can create a currency, anyone can leverage the power of a fund to help others generate wealth.

For example, gaming is starting to really take shape on Hive.  How about the idea of having a gaming fund that focuses upon the best gaming assets tied to this blockchain?  One could buy tokens in that which then are used to buy the gaming assets, whether fungible or not, to provide the value to the fund.  

We are starting to see this in the crypto world with Wall Street setting up funds to buy into different crypto mixes.

Here is another idea.  How about tokenizing the authors on Hive?  Each could have his or her own token which represents a certain portion of the earnings.  This could all be written into a contract with the percentage being allocated as backing for the author token.  Then, people could set up funds based upon different authors which would allow for people to buy into.

Of course, the value of Hive is that people will be able to start their journey of investing in some of these types of funds with rewards they earned for different activities on Hive.

Basically the opportunities are endless.  It is up to individual innovation and creativity.  Over time, with more open source solutions available to us, our abilities individually will expand.  At one time, getting a web site up was a major technical undertaking.  Now, most over the age of 10 can set one up.

Hive has the ability to really tap into this and make a nice case for itself.  All we need is the tools to accomplish that.

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