I relate to a lot of this. Lately the frustration for me goes beyond price action. There is a growing feeling that Hive is less decentralized in practice than it is in theory. A lot of meaningful decisions still seem to be shaped by a very small number of large stakeholders. Even sitting at orca level, I often feel pretty powerless, which makes me wonder how dolphins or smaller accounts experience this system day to day.

That erosion of agency matters. It changes how invested people feel, especially when prices are down and the narrative of “build now, it pays off later” or when you join hive you are now a CEO… it all stops feeling credible.

I keep coming back to the idea that maybe Hive does not need to be for everyone. It seems we have been telling the same story for years and expecting a different outcome. What I would love to see is a small group of people who genuinely still care about HIVE get together and rethink how Hive is presented to the wider world. Less hype and trying to appeal to the masses. More leaning into the misfit side of Hive. Trying to find the people who are tired of main stream platforms and going for folks that care about owning their digital footprint and like building and being part of the weird corners of the internet.

If we keep repeating the same patterns, we should not be surprised if we keep shedding users. Breaking that cycle likely means embracing that Hive is niche, renegade, and not polite or tidy. That might be exactly what the next generation of Hiveans is looking for.
But what the fuck do I know. It’s just how i feel currently