Conversions play a major role in the Hive ecosystem. In the past years there have been multiple adjustments and improvements in the process. This resulted in conversions enabled in both directions. On top of the two-way conversions, we now have the @hbdstabilizer that is buying and selling HBD, providing liquidity and incentives on the internal market.
Was more HIVE added or removed trough conversions?
Where did the major conversions come from?
Types of Conversions
First let’s take a look at all the possible ways to convert HIVE to HBD and the opposite.
1. HBD to HIVE Conversions
The HBD to HIVE conversions have been around since the beginning of the chain and they are quite simple to track. There is only one way to create HIVE from HBD and that is when HBD is converted to HIVE via the 3.5 days process. This mechanic has been in place since the creation of the chain. What it does is provide support for HBD on the downside, preventing it from dropping below $1 as long as the debt limit is not reached.
2. HIVE to HBD Conversions
The HIVE to HBD conversions are a bit more complicated. They come later in development and some things were added on top of another.
There are three ways in which HIVE is converted to HBD:
- 1.Regular HIVE to HBD conversions
- 2.HIVE to HBD conversions from HIVE transfers to the DHF
- 3.HIVE to HBD conversions in the DHF from the existing HIVE in the DHF
The regular conversions would be the standard way for converting HIVE to HBD. When the price of HBD is above $1, users can convert HIVE to HBD at a fixed price of 1.05, that the blockchain guaranties for this type of conversions. When these types of conversions are made, half of the HIVE is instantly converted to HBD, while the other half is locked as collateral, and it is released after 3.5 days. The amount of HIVE that is given back depends on the price of HIVE in the 3.5 days period when the HIVE was locked as collateral.
This feature was added with the HardFrok at the end of June 2021. What it does is preventing HBD to increasing in price, giving stability on the upside. Because this feature was introduced later, we can see in the past there were high prices for HBD, formerly SBD.
The second type of HIVE to HBD conversions is when HIVE is transferred to the DHF (Decentralized Hive Fund). Because the DHF works with HBD, payouts to proposal workers are made in HBD, the HIVE needs to be converted to HBD for these funds to be usable. Unlike the standardconversions that have collateral locked for 3.5 days, these conversions are instant. As soon as HIVE is sent to the DHF it is converted to HBD at the blockchain median price. These conversions were added with the HF in October 2020. Most of the transfers to the DHF are made by the @hbdstabilizer, that works in both directions to provide instant liquidity for HBD.
The third type of HIVE to HBD conversions are the conversions from the existing HIVE in the DHF. These are the funds that were allocated to the DHF when the Hive creation HardFork happened. Around 83M HIVE were allocated in the DHF in March 2020. Later with the HardFork in October 2020 these funds were put in a slow conversion mode where 0.05% per day is converted to HBD to avoid price volatility. These conversions will go down as years passes. We are now more than half way trough with 31M left in the DHF.
@hbdstabilizer
The stabilizer has been a major player in the Hive ecosystem and its tokenomics. Up to a year ago it had around 200k HBD daily budget, while now it has scaled down to 12k. Because of this we will be looking at it separately here. The main goal for the stabilizer is to try and keep HBD around the dollar. The stabilizer receives HBD from the DHF, and if the price of HBD is higher than $1 it sells HBD on the internal market. If the price of HBD is lower than $1 it converts the HBD to HIVE and then uses that HIVE to buy HBD on the internal market, giving support for HBD on the downside.
The period that we will be looking at is from April 2020 till now.
HBD to HIVE Conversions
This is the one type of conversion for creating HIVE. Here is the chart.
I have separated these conversions into two categories: hbdstabilizer in white and regular users in red.
We can see that back in 2020 the HBD to HIVE conversions were made only by users. The stabilizer was not active yet and all conversions came from users. From 2021 through most of 2025, the stabilizer became the dominant source of HIVE creation. Its role is to support the HBD price, while excess HIVE is sent back to the DHF and recycled. In 2026, however, regular-user conversions have accelerated sharply and nearly caught up cumulatively.
In the latest period regular-user conversions clearly moved ahead. From March 3 to July 29, users converted about 34.9M HIVE, compared with 23.6M from the stabilizer, with the biggest user day reaching roughly 1.34M HIVE in June.
Note that these are not NET conversions. Most of the HIVE created above is converted back again to HBD. We will see details about this bellow.
When we zoom in we get this:
The zoomed chart shows that the February surge did not fade. Regular-user conversions remained elevated through spring and early summer, repeatedly exceeding stabilizer activity. The largest single day arrived on June 14 at about 1.34M HIVE, while July also remained active.
HIVE to HBD Conversions
Now with the HIVE to HBD conversion. As we have seen above, these are bit more specific and there are multiple types of conversions.
Here is the chart.
As we can see the @hbdstabilizer remains dominant here as well, shown by the white columns. For the stabilizer, HIVE to HBD conversions include the HIVE sent back to the DHF. These are unused funds that the stabilizer does not need at that moment, so it returns them as HIVE, where they are converted back to HBD. From March 3 to July 29 this channel converted about 25.4M HIVE, and the latest daily amount was close to 268k. The stabilizer is therefore still mainly recycling funds while supporting HBD liquidity.
The conversions happening in the DHF from the ninja mine HIVE to HBD are shown in red. Historically they followed the blockchain's programmed decline, moving from around 44k HIVE per day in October 2020 to roughly 15k by early 2026. In the updated data, however, the red series is flat from March through July, with no recorded conversions in that period. Around 31M HIVE remains in the DHF from the initial 83M. This makes the recent chart notably different: the stabilizer continues converting, while the ninja mine no longer adds a daily negative flow in the observed months.
The blue columns represent conversions from users. Historically these appeared occasionally when HBD rose sharply on external markets and arbitrage became attractive. In the latest March-to-July period, no regular-user HIVE to HBD conversions were recorded.
Net HIVE Created/Burned from Conversions
When we combine all the ways HIVE is converted to HBD, and the opposite we get the final net numbers from conversions.
When we sum up the created and removed HIVE from conversions, we get the chart above.
Volatility remains visible across the full history. A large amount of HIVE was removed in 2021, followed by several negative spikes in 2022 and 2023. From 2024 onward the balance shifted increasingly positive, and 2026 has extended that trend with larger creation spikes.
In 2026 the strongest day was June 14, when net HIVE creation reached a new record of about 1.33M.
On a monthly basis the chart looks like this:
A bit clearer picture here.
We can see the large amounts of HIVE burned back in August and September of 2021.
The latest months remain strongly positive. June reached a new monthly ATH at 9.3M HIVE, while July added another 6.2M through July 29.
Cumulative HIVE Created from Conversions Since 2020
When we plot the amount of HIVE created from conversions starting from 2020 we get this:
Cumulative net HIVE created from conversions since April 2020 has now reached about 67.4M. After the deep 2021 decline, the curve recovered gradually through 2022 and 2023, then moved decisively higher in 2024 and 2025. The acceleration became much stronger in 2026, when 43.8M net HIVE was added by July 29, taking the cumulative line to a fresh high.
The upper line shows HIVE created from conversions when we exclude the HIVE conversions inside the DHF, which mainly change locked HIVE into locked HBD. On this basis, net HIVE created since 2020 is now about 118.8M. This remains the more realistic view of liquid-supply pressure because the ninja mine conversions stay inside the DHF regardless of whether the locked value is held as HIVE or HBD.
Plotted on one chart the conversions by category looks like this:
Historically the stabilizer remains the largest source of HIVE creation at 59.8M, but regular users have now surged to 59.1M and nearly caught up.
The ninja mine has offset these conversions by 51.5M HIVE, although its line has been in a decline.
The stabilizer (green) still converts HBD into HIVE and supports the internal market, while the ninja mine (red) historically moved in the opposite direction by converting HIVE to HBD inside the DHF. In 2026 the balance changed sharply: stabilizer growth slowed, the ninja mine flattened, and regular users (white) became the main driver of newly created HIVE.
In the latest months the users line has climbed rapidly and is now almost level with the stabilizer.
Net HIVE created in 2026: 43.8M
- Users: +44.0M
- Stabilizer: +0.7M
- Ninja Mine: −1.0M
Top Users By Net HIVE Created from Conversion
Here are the top users that converted most of the HIVE.
On the first spot are basically the market makers that are providing liquidity on the internal market. These accounts like konvik have now partially replaced the stabilizer and are now buying undervalued HBD on the internal market, and converting it to HIVE, making an arbitrage. Some of the DHF fuds receivers are in the top 10 as well.
Conversions have accelerated a lot in 2026!
All the best
@dalz
Thank you for this detailed analysis. HIVE-HBD conversions are a fundamental aspect of blockchain tokenomics, and articles like this help the community better understand what's happening behind the scenes. This is perhaps the clearest post I've ever read on the HIVE-HBD conversion issue. By the end of the post, I realized that liquidity is flowing into HIVE in 2026, right?
Great technical insight for HIVE - HBD conversions. Still the fact that "conversions have accelerated a lot in 2026" is it a good thing or a bad one?
I like reading such stats, but in the end I think having a "business" conclusion brings clarifications for the reader.
Its bad :)
A question that will seem very silly to you:
I have a small amount in HBD and I want to convert that to Hive. Do I unstake and then it automatically becomes Hive in 3.5 days?
Thanks.
No, you need liquid HBD and convert it to hive
Thank you. I've withdrawn the HBD from savings. I hope (?)it then becomes liquid Hive. At that point I hope (?) I can convert to Hive. If not, maybe I'll just give whatever it is slowly as gifts to other users.
You can see I blog regularly and happily here, but have no idea about how the finances work. That's why I have lemouth as my proxy. I trust him and he knows what he is doing.
HBD appears to have flatlined on CMC at around 90 cents with no volume being recorded/reported from exchanges (the only one left is Upbit). Any idea what's going on there?
You have basicly described the issue :) .... one exchange, low volume, bad price indicator ...