To Stake, Or Not To Stake - Newbie Guide

This is a controversial topic and again, I may be stepping on a few toes but it's still important to talk about it. If I can change a few minds at the end of my post, that means it worth it.

As I've mentioned in my previous post about expectations, money and the earning possibility is what drives most of the users to Hive, the possibility to get rich as fast as possible. As everything is transparent on hive, you can check everyone's wallet, transactions, many are hoping to earn as much as the big guys are earning, one day. This is not impossible, but in order to do that, you need to know how.

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There are all kinds of users on Hive, some with a lot of stake, others have nothing as they are brand new and there are those who are not new but still don't have any stake at all, for various reasons, one of which is, they are cashing out every single penny they're earning.

Earning On Hive

There are various ways to earn on Hive, of which the most obvious is by posting. This is free, so to say as you can do it right away after you register, without investing fiat or other crypto. In other words you don't need to power up anything in order to be able to post. Will there be restrictions? Yes, there will be as your Resource Credit (RC) will be drained fast once you start posting, commenting and voting and you'll be benched till your RC will be full again, but after that you can resume your activity, till you drain your RC again.

This is a newbie guide, aimed towards those who don't understand the concept of proof of stake, so I'm going to focus on the importance of stake. Those who have invested in Hive don't need a guide about the importance of stake. They already know what it is and using it for their advantage.

As I mentioned above, the earning possibility is what's driving people to Hive but what matters even more is what you do with your earnings. Coming with a web2/fiat mentality has a lot of disadvantages and even though some may start to earn on Hive, the previously mentioned mentality is going to work against them. Some are able to recognize the difference between the web2/fiat mentality and crypto or Hive mentality and are able to adapt, while others will be trapped in the old mindset and do the same as they have always been doing. Walking the same path and expecting different results does not work anywhere. Just as you can't have the cake and eat it too. Both can be applied to Hive.

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Ways Of Earning On Hive

There are several ways of earning on Hive:

• by posting (earning author rewards),
• by commenting,
• by upvoting posts (earning curation rewards),
• by delegating for delegation rewards,
• earning APR for HBD in Savings,
• earning APR for holding HP.

These are just a few of many, but the most obvious is by posting. After the 7 day period ends, author rewards are yours (not before). You get half of the author rewards powered up as HP, the other half is liquid and split between Hive and HBD. (The liquid Hive and HBD part is a simplified explanation here, to avoid confusing newbies even more.)

After a few payouts, your RC problems should start to disappear as having some Hive powered up is needed for that. This is the part where you can start enjoying blogging, reading and upvoting content. Your vote will still not worth much, maybe not even a penny, but coming from a web2 social media world, LIKING something you like is in your blood and upvoting posts is also a way of appreciation if you really enjoy the content. Don't worry about the value of your vote, just vote if you think the post worth it.

At this point you have three options. You either:

1. power up your liquid earnings, to grow your stake, to get rid of the RC problems once and for all and start earning curation rewards,
2. you keep it liquid (not the best idea, unless you have some plans),
3. cash it out (the worst option).

Without any thinking, you can guess which option is the most popular among those who have come to Hive for a quick buck. Yes, that's right, the last one. They even power down to the last penny sometimes and transfer all out to the exchanges.

We can't judge or force them to do it differently as it's their money, they can do whatever they want with it, just as we can do whatever we want with our stake. However, things are not so simple and you see that when the high level of entitlement comes to the surface.

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We Live In The Era Of Entitlement

The above statement may sound brutal but unfortunately it's true and you can see it on Hive every single day. There are posts complaining about not earning enough, sometimes accusing whoever they can for their lack of earnings. This happens at any level, not just at newbie level. There are people who have been trying to guilt trip others for years, without any success and they still don't see what they are doing.

As I mentioned in the above section, posting seems to be the most popular and the easiest way of earning. You just drop your post, hoping for big upvotes, then after payout, you cash out everything and start over. This may be profitable for awhile, but as upvotes are never guaranteed, you'll always be dependent of those votes, that may or may not come. Once the votes start to dry out, frustration kicks in, which leads to accusations towards those with high stake and high voting potential.

Unfortunately this mentality, according to which the rich have to give to the poor is present everywhere, on Hive as well. Here rich means users with high stake and poor means users with no stake.

In reality, those who are called rich, or whales or orca, or whatever you want to call them are the ones who decided not to eat the cake and rather have it. Many of them have invested fiat or bought Hive exchanging other cryptocurrencies, in order to put their stake to good use. Those who are called poor are the users who have decided to cash out everything and look poor as they have been eating he cake constantly.

The most common argument you see is that it's easy for the whales as they can afford it. The truth is, you don't know who can afford what. You can stay anonymous on Hive and no one knows who's stake is that or if the stake is really theirs or bought on borrowed fiat. Just as you can't see if those who are cashing out everything, are indeed forced to do that. Basically it's not important as it's a private matter. What's important is your own attitude towards your own and other users stake and the sooner you understand what I mean by that, the better for you. Some say why should I support those who are not supporting anyone but themselves and I can't really blame them. This is a community and those who are always just taking and never giving back anything are not always loved.

The financial part of Hive is a very complex one and not always easy to understand, especially for those coming from the fiat world. I've been studying it from day one but most likely there are users who still can't understand it after many years. For a newbie, having Hive, HP and HBD at the same time, conversion rates, market prices and so on can be super confusing. However, if you really want to be in control of your finances, you make the effort and learn.

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To Stake, Or Not To Stake

The short answer to the above question is it's up to you, but we all know staking has a lot more advantages than not staking.

Crypto has always been about holding, the exact opposite of the obsolete economical system we have worldwide. In some developed countries people can have everything, from big houses to luxury cars, but when you look into their finances, they only have debts and what you see as their wealth is in fact owned by banks and financial institutions. That is not wealth, that is modern era slavery.

Crypto can change that and on Hive you have the possibility to set up your piggy bank, if you're smart. Once you start building up your stake, you can earn curation rewards, which can be passive earning, based on your stake. If you're smart, one day you can earn more on curation than you're earning on posting and as the idea is to put your money to work for you and not vice versa, this should be something to consider as soon as possible. You may earn very little at the beginning, but it adds up in time.

Another important thing newbies don't know is that airdrops are based on stake. Over the years we've had a bunch of airdrops and each time, when an airdop is announced, you see salty comments like it's not fair as the rich get richer. Have I ever told you that you can't have the cake and eat it too? I think I have. Well, here's a concrete example why stake is important and this is just one example. Airdrops are favoring the holders and this will hardly ever change.

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A New Mindset Is Needed

I've said this before, in my previous post and saying it again. A new mindset is needed. We all want financial freedom and are working towards obtaining it, but in order to do that, you need to drop the old mindset. Spending every single penny, then hoping to get more is not what's going to change your life.

Hive has a lot of investment opportunities. You can earn your stake, build it up and put it to good use. Learn how to be in control of your finances.

Someone commented under my previous post saying that Hive is a journey, not a race and I fully agree with this statement. Think long term and make your plan long term. There's no jackpot here to hit then run. Build, build, build and soon you'll be enjoying the benefits. Earn your freedom the smart way.