Welcome to the 40th edition of the Hive Community Spotlight! Today, we’re thrilled to feature @stoodkev, a developer and long-time contributor to Hive whose work has significantly influenced the platform. Known for his dedication to creating tools that enhance security and accessibility on Hive, @stoodkev’s journey has been both inspiring and transformative for the community. In this edition, he shares his story of innovation, teamwork, and vision for the future of Hive and Keychain.
Who is @stoodkev
@stoodkev is a Hive witness, developer, and open-source advocate who has been part of the Hive ecosystem since 2017. He’s best known as the lead developer behind Keychain, a browser extension and mobile app that has become an essential tool for Hive users. From tackling technical challenges to prioritizing community needs, @stoodkev exemplifies a commitment to advancing Hive’s potential and ensuring a secure, user-friendly experience for everyone on the platform.
Tabular Summary of the Interview with @stoodkev
| Question | Key Points |
|---|---|
| Discovery of Hive | Discovered Hive’s ancestor platform in 2017 while exploring blockchain technology; was drawn by the community and began contributing by developing open-source code. |
| Inspiration for Keychain | Initially developed with support from the Splinterlands team to provide a Metamask equivalent on Hive, focusing on security and ease of use. |
| Challenges in Development | The Hive fork was a major challenge; he refactored Keychain in one day to work on the new chain. Developing on iOS remains challenging due to technical limitations and bias against crypto. |
| Balancing Development and Community | Primarily focuses on development and managing new features; engages with the community on Discord and on-chain to gather feedback and support. |
| How Hive Multisig Works | Explained that Hive Multisig allows multiple signatures for transactions, providing enhanced security and decision-making processes. Used by communities for secure transfers. |
| Advice to New Developers | Recommends building open-source projects and engaging with the community for feedback. Emphasizes trying new things and enjoying the process. |
| Tips for New Hive Users | Encourages new users to connect with others, explore the ecosystem, and take time to learn. |
| Future of Keychain | Excited about the Multisig team’s 2FA bot integration in Keychain. Envisions Keychain becoming multichain to attract users from other blockchains. |
| Most Rewarding Moment | Reaching 100,000 weekly active users on Chrome extension store; values community feedback. |
| Major Influences on Hive | Inspired by @elear from Utopian and @yabapmatt from Splinterlands; appreciates his colleague @cedricguillas for joining him full-time on Keychain development. |
Interview with Stoodkev
Can you share how you first discovered Hive and what initially drew you to the platform?
Sure. I discovered what would later become Hive in August 2017. At the time, I just realized that despite my efforts, my first startup was going nowhere, and I was burnt out. I started to look into blockchain technology and crypto to take my mind off it. I discovered the ancestor of hive.blog, and fell in love with the community. Later on, I started to contribute by writing opensource code, up to this day. I actually wrote a short summary of my Hive story a while ago : https://peakd.com/hive/@stoodkev/my-hive-story
What inspired you to build Keychain, and how did the project evolve over time?
The first version of Keychain was actually imagined and funded by the Splinterlands team, as a way to have a Metamask equivalent on our blockchain. The main goal was to avoid having users copy-pasting their keys everywhere, thus decreasing their chance of being hacked.
Since Hive’s heart is its active community, we received a lot of feedback and suggestions for new features. The launch of the DHF allowed us to keep working on it, and what was a very simple extension is now a rich set of mobile Apps and extensions.
Keychain has become an essential tool for Hive users. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during its development?
As a personal challenge, I would say the fork from S**** to Hive was a tough but exciting one. I was working on Keychain solo at the time and refactored the whole extension to work on our new chain in a single day to be ready for the Hard Fork. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much.
Besides that, a recurrent challenge has been developing on iOS. Both their technical limitations and their negative bias against crypto during update reviews make it very hard to develop a wallet for Apple users.
As a witness and developer, how do you balance the technical and community-driven aspects of your work on Hive?
Tough one, on my day-to-day, most of my time is spent either developing or managing new features or issues.
That being said, my team and I do our best to answer community questions about our projects on Discord and on-chain. We are also present on X to promote Hive.
Could you explain how Hive Multisig works and why it’s important for Hive users?
Sure, I actually wrote a post that explains multisig in detail almost 6 years ago (gosh time flies): https://peakd.com/utopian-io/@stoodkev/how-to-set-up-and-use-multisignature-accounts-on-steem-blockchain
To sum it up, multisig works by requesting multiple signatures before a transaction is broadcasted. Each key involved has a weight assigned to it, and the account’s authority has a threshold assigned. For the transaction to be broadcasted successfully, the sum of the weights of the keys used for signing need to reach the value of the threshold.
Hive Multisig provides an easy interface to setup multisig accounts, and more importantly to send easily the partially signed transactions between the different signers.
This opens the door for lots of new applications. For instance, communities can have a multisig wallet and decide on a transfer based on a consensus (Splinterlands DAO is already using it). This also can be used to set up 2FA accounts (see my latest post).
What advice would you give to new developers interested in building on Hive?
Build opensource projects. Develop a quick MVP and show it to the community. Hive biggest asset is its community, it should be at the center of the development process. It brings invaluable information to receive constant feedback on the development direction.
Other than that, try things, have fun!
For newcomers just joining Hive, what tips do you have for navigating and thriving in the community?
Well, here once again the keyword is community. Don’t be an island, interact with others, ask them how they made progress during their own Hive journey, and learn along the way.
Understand that Hive is not a single website but a whole ecosystem, have fun exploring it!
Finally, take it slow, the complexity of our chain can be a bit daunting, but there’s no need to get everything from day one.
How do you see Keychain evolving in the future? Are there any upcoming features you’re particularly excited about?
I was very glad to use Multisig team’s work on a 2FA bot and integrate it into Keychain. It is now in Beta but might already be in production by the time this is published. This will take the security on Hive one step further.
To be truely beneficial to the ecosystem, I believe Keychain needs to become multichain to try and attract users from other chains and then show them all the cool stuff they can do on Hive. It is a huge task, especially when we need to balance it with all the other features we want to build on Hive, but I really think its necessary for our future, and I am really looking forward to see where it will bring us!
What’s been one of the most rewarding moments you’ve experienced while working on Hive or Keychain?
One of the most rewarding moments was when we reached 100,000 weekly active users on the chrome extension store. It is just a number, but it was hard to fathom that so many people were using our project on a regular basis.
The comments we receive on each of our development update posts are also a big boost for our team morale, and give us important feedback.
Who in the Hive ecosystem has been a major influence or collaborator in your journey, and how have they contributed to your success?
There are so many people that it would be hard to list them all, so I’ll cut it down to three people.
At the beginning of my journey, when I was working on another extension called SteemPlus, @elear was a big factor of my success at the time. His platform Utopian rewarded work on opensource projects at the time, and gave me the opportunity to keep working on my project and hone my skills.
Later on, working on the first version of Keychain with the Splinterlands team and @yabapmatt in particular truely inspired me to become a full-time Hiver.
Finally, my friend and colleague @cedricguillas, who is a great developer and didn’t hesitate for a second when I asked him if he was ready to quit a comfortable position to come work full-time on Keychain with me.
Project/Community Highlight
Keychain, @stoodkev’s flagship project, is a vital tool in the Hive ecosystem, designed to enhance security and user convenience. Originally supported by Splinterlands, Keychain is now a full-featured browser extension and mobile app that simplifies signing transactions without exposing private keys. With over 100,000 active users, Keychain continues to evolve with new features like multisig support and 2FA, reflecting @stoodkev’s commitment to Hive’s growth and security.
Thank you, @stoodkev, for sharing your journey and insights in this special 40th edition of the Hive Community Spotlight. Your dedication to developing essential tools like Keychain has not only strengthened Hive’s security but also made it more accessible to users worldwide. We’re grateful for the time and effort you’ve devoted to supporting this community, and we look forward to seeing the amazing developments that lie ahead.
Conclusion
As a developer and community leader, @stoodkev represents the heart of what makes Hive a thriving, collaborative space. His story of perseverance, innovation, and commitment to open-source development highlights the impact that one person’s vision can have on an entire ecosystem. We’re inspired by his contributions and excited to see how his work will shape Hive’s future. Thank you for joining us for this 40th edition of the Hive Community Spotlight—stay tuned for more stories that celebrate our community’s brightest minds and boldest creators!
Special thanks to:
@thekittygirl
@wesphilbin
@snook
For their valuable support. See you all in the next edition 🤗
View Previous interviews here 👇
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I've met him a couple of times and he's a nice guy. Keychain is an essential part of Hive that gives us extra security when logging into dapps. People should support his witness to thank him.