Can you remember your first payout on Hive?

20 comments

belemo3 years ago3 min read

On this day, five years ago, I received my first payout from my

. It was a short publication where I talked a little about myself back then and it is amazing how much has changed since then.

To put it plainly, a lot of the improvements that have happened in my life are because of Hive. The community swaddled me in its arms and transformed my hobby into a source of income.

The past five years have been a self-discovery journey, filled with highs and lows that combined to make me who I am today. All of that is mostly due to my experience on hive and it all boils down to that first payout that changed everything.

I love telling the story of my first payout. It's amazing how the details are still so fresh in my mind after all these years. It is a story about how an ordinary shitpost transformed this young man into a professional copywriter.

My first payout saved Christmas

So, I received my first payout one week after writing

on the 17th of December. I've looked at this publication so many times and while I'd like to edit it, I'll rather not tamper with the history.

I didn't have high hopes about the platform back then and only wrote the publication because @ebingo And @bhoa insisted I do it. I'd have preferred to just jump straight into writing about my interests, so I put little effort into the publication.

Despite the lack of quality, the community still supported me and welcomed me with open arms. The payout was worth around $20 at the time and I sold one-half of it while the other half was automatically staked.

The thing you need to keep in mind is that back then, SBD(currently HBD) was worth around $12, so tiny votes were more valuable. Alas, I live in Nigeria and a few dollars can do a World of good in your life.

At the time, I had a grand total of zero in my bank account and was planning to sit out Christmas. Hive came at the nick of time and my first payout became even more memorable.

It wasn't just about the money but about the timing. Perhaps things would have been different if I had received the payout at a time when I was in a better financial state but I seriously doubt it because, at that time, I was also looking for a way to monetise my interest in writing.

Every yuletide reminds me of how a simple decision transformed into a constant source of income and opportunity. My first payout is etched in my memory and it is something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.