My History With Hive and SteemIt
SteemIt and Hive are platforms built around cryptocurrencies. STEEM-POWER and HIVE-POWER are classified as "utility tokens." People buy STEEM-POWER or HIVE-POWER for the effect that the tokens have on their accounts. (A quick technical note. HIVE POWER is also called a VEST.)
I had a SteemIt account with neglible STEEM. The experience was extremely frustrating. I was hoping to get tokens from people who had invested in tokens without making a similar investment myself.
I finally accept that, if I am to participate in the platform, I shoud buy the token.
At the beginning of 2020, I borrowed $200 to buy STEEM. STEEM-POWER determines value of an upvote. The upvote value of an account with $250 in SP is $0.01.
I got my funds just as the hardfork hit the platform; so I didn't start buying until April. I decided to invest in HIVE-POWER.
I bought into HIVE when the price dropped below a dime. I discovered that $0.01 upvote did not improve my reception on Hive. It appears that the magic number is $0.02. Two pennies is enough to assure that one's upvote won't be swept away as dust. The system gives notifications when accounts get upvotes over two pennies.
I have to repay my loan. That means that I must develop a strategy for withdrawing the funds.
My Current Strategy
I believe that people interested in SteemIt or HIVE should open an account on an exchange. I started with Coinbase, but decided to switch to Bittrex. One sould buy $500 in HIVE. This is enough to make their upvote worth more than $0.02. The challenge is that the price of HIVE changes. If the price drops; one has to buy more HIVE to keep in the game.
Players on the platform should design a strategy for withdrawing their money. I decided to start withdrawing when estimated value of my account jumped over $1,000. I was very lucky. The price of HIVE spiked and I am now in the withdraw stage.
My current strategy is to withdraw all of the HBD that I get for my posts. I will continue to power up the HP I get for posts and curations.
I am not a good writer. It looks like I will make from $4 to $10 a month in HBD and another $20 a month worth in HP (which I am still powering up).
I think a better strategy is to simply have an upper limit for an account and to power down any time the account tops that upper limit.
I think it would be a hoot for my account to be dolphin account. An account with 10000000 VESTS is ranked as a dolphin. This is about 5000 HP. I will power up my curation rewards until I am an dolphin, which should happen in about two to three years.
Tracking My Strategy
With my strategy duly defined, I created this page to track my success. This first table shows all of the transactions where I trade money between HIVE and the world at large.
I started by transferring $200 into my Coinbase account where I bought etherium. The hardfork caused a spike in the value of STEEM. I decided to buy HIVE after the price dropped. The value of my ehterium jumped to $275. I bought my HIVE in four blocks. I incurred heavy fees from Coinbase and Blocktrades.
I decided to start withdrawing money on May 1st. I am not cashing out all HBD that I get for posts. I executed my first transaction on 5/15. I transferred funds to a new account on Bittrex. I now have $2.09 in my Bittrex wallet. I want to get the money all the way to my bank account, but they want a minimum $10 transaction for a withdrawal.
The table shows the date and description of each transaction. I show the amount in both HIVE and USD followed by what CoinGecko recorded as the price of HIVE at the time of the transactions. The last columns show the balance in USD and my current HIVE power. So, I went $200 in the hole and must dig my way out.
| Date | Description | HIVE Amount | USD Amount | HIVE Price | USD Balance | HIVE POWER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/03/2020 | From Coinbase | -134.676 | $-24.93 | $0.18 | $-24.93 | 224.000 |
| 04/07/2020 | From Coinbase | -935.686 | $-99.64 | $0.11 | $-124.57 | 1,162.000 |
| 04/09/2020 | From Coinbase | -767.831 | $-74.88 | $0.09 | $-199.45 | 1,930.000 |
| 04/15/2020 | From Coinbase | -628.428 | $-69.13 | $0.11 | $-268.58 | 2,560.000 |
| 05/01/2020 | Start Withdrawal | 0.000 | $0.00 | $0.40 | $-268.58 | 2,591.000 |
| 05/15/2020 | To Bittrex | 6.798 | $2.09 | $0.33 | $-266.49 | 2,608.000 |
| 06/05/2020 | Created Community | 3.000 | $0.00 | $0.25 | $-266.49 | 2,627.000 |
| 07/01/2020 | From Bittrex | -9.200 | $-2.09 | $0.22 | $-268.58 | 2,679.000 |
| 07/02/2020 | From Coinbase | -462.915 | $-100.00 | $0.22 | $-368.58 | 3,143.000 |
| 07/21/2020 | Created VS Comm | 3.000 | $0.00 | $0.23 | $-368.58 | 3,167.000 |
| 08/01/2020 | 1000 Days Start | 0.000 | $0.00 | $0.23 | $-368.58 | 3,203.000 |
| 11/09/2020 | From Dapps | -2.836 | $0.00 | $0.12 | $-368.58 | 3,373.000 |
| 11/14/2020 | Dip Purchase | -752.793 | $-100.00 | $0.12 | $-468.58 | 4,131.000 |
The Data in a Chart
This section shows the data from the table in a chart. Yes, I hardcoded the chart with SVG. The chart is boring, but might look interesting with more data. I will add the labels later. The top line shows my HIVE POWER. The dotted line is my goal of $500. The next line is my estimated account value. The last line shows that I am still down $200.