I’ve been on the blockchain since October 23, 2016.
And honestly? My time on the legacy chain and on Hive has been a whole roller coaster. Messy. Brilliant. Exhausting. Weirdly life-changing. I’ve learned a ton. I’ve met people who, at different points, straight up changed how I see the world. And through it all, I’ve been quietly, steadily earning crypto. Not a fortune, but it was mine. I earned it. Post by post. Comment by comment. Little wins that add up.
I’ve also walked away a couple times. Life gets heavy, brains get fried, words stop working, and when you’re running on fumes you don’t exactly feel like blogging on-chain. But even when I wasn’t active, the blockchain has always lived in my heart. It’s not just “a platform.” It’s like a living organism. It’s community. It’s history. It’s receipts. It’s home, even when you need a break from it.
So yeah… this part sucks to write:
My original account @artemisnorth got hijacked.
And the real kick in the teeth? I’ve always thought of myself as pretty tech-savvy. Careful-ish. Not clueless. But apparently I’m not as locked down as I believed, and I’m pretty sure Google is where the crack in the door happened.
I didn’t think I was letting Google save logins, but when I dug way down that long, cursed list of stored passwords (you know the one)… I found Hivetasks, and inside that saved login was one of my keys. Yep. A KEY. Just sitting there like a tiny “please rob me” sticky note.
According to someone who’s been incredibly helpful (I’m not naming them yet because I want to confirm they’re cool with it), it looks like the takeover actually started back in April… when I wasn’t even active. They changed my recovery account. Why they waited this long to keep going, I honestly don’t know. Maybe they were learning. Maybe they were watching. Maybe they saw me become active again and decided it was time to scrape it clean.
Either way, it taught me a few valuable lessons. The big one:
Always double-check what you think you did or know.
Because confidence is not security. Ask me how I know.
So now I’m rebuilding from scratch… after being here for years. Which is humbling in the most annoying way possible. I had forgotten what it’s like to have limited RC. I literally had to wait until this morning to upload my profile banner.
Love that for me. 🙃
But I’m still here. I’m not disappearing. And I’m not letting this be the end of my story.
Also: I want to throw a huge thank-you to the people who showed up for me fast and hard: my sister @shadowspub, @thekittygirl, @alessandrawhite, @derangedvisions, and two others who I’m keeping unnamed for now until I know if they want to be mentioned. Thank you for the help, the support, and the “okay breathe, we’ll figure it out” energy when I was ready to flip a table.
If you’re reading this and you’ve been lax with security because you thought you were fine: please learn from my disaster. Check your saved passwords. Check your key storage. Lock your stuff down like you actually want to keep it.
Because apparently, being careful “in your head” doesn’t count.
I’m pissed. But I’m also rebuilding. And I’m not done.
Until next time friends...