TLDR: I saw Hive Open Days on meetup.com last Thursday, but the journey began with a BTC ATM 2 months ago; or even a story about ETH in 2017.
Preface
In 2017, there was a digital nomad meeting in Barcelona where new friends were excitedly telling me to buy ETH at less than $200. I wasn't totally convinced and put it on my to-do list. I didn't buy any. Big L.
Fast forward a couple of years and as an entrepreneur, I was following GaryVee, who told us to get in on NFTs. This time, I listened.
I didn't buy any until I understood how blockchain worked and whether it had any use beyond crypto. I studied Solidity online with Patrick Collins, a Chainlink developer educator, who I eventually met at the Chainlink Hacker House in Barcelona.
The Ethereum blockchain convinced me that Web3 is the future because of practical use cases, like DIDs and supply chain. In Australia, I met a founder who is tracking the provenance of seafood.
But over these past few years, I was focusing more on AI and had not been active in Web3.
Until strange things started happening in the last couple of months.
The Bitcoin ATM
One typical sunny afternoon in Alicante, after admiring the Rolex watches on the corner, I noticed a sign I'd first seen a few years ago.
It was a Bitcoin ATM.
I went in and had a nice chat about the bear market with the local guy and asked if he knew of any crypto/Web3 groups in the city. Apparently none.
He showed me some cold storage options. I thought nothing more of it.
Do You Have a Wallet?
A couple of weeks later, I was dealing with a family matter that involved a cross-border transfer.
After looking at our options, my older relative casually asked if I had MetaMask. He suggested doing the transfer via our Coinbase accounts and I happily agreed.
I never knew any of my family had crypto. Apparently I was the last to know.
Recovering My Crypto Winnings
During this exchange, I remembered that my team AcquaChain won a special prize for a non-fintech project at the 1st EBC Hackathon.
I emailed the Founder/CEO to track down my missing XDC. I couldn't even remember where it was.
He sent me the block details and I spent a couple of hours transferring it from the XDC blockchain to MetaMask.
Worth it as it came to around $80. The project also won a contract with a Dubai bank, so worth it to HODL for now.
A Web3 Incubator
A week later, a prominent Web3 founder in London DM'd me about a brand new incubator she's setting up for Web3 projects. I replied that I'm interested in impact projects but had no current Web3 idea.
That changed this weekend at HOD. More on that later.
A Blockchain Expert
Last weekend I saw on IG that a friend who consults on global blockchain projects was in town, for the first time.
I'd recommended her as a speaker at the first Web3 conference in Tenerife, where I was a volunteer.
The Web3 world seemed to be calling me back. Loudly.
Hive Open Days
Last Thursday, after a month of not attending any events, I decided to check the Meetup app.
The first event that popped up was Hive Open Days. It was about to start in three hours.
On a whim, I signed up.
It piqued my curiosity. A Web3 social network! I honestly thought nobody had built one successfully.
After a quick deep dive online, I changed my schedule and attended for the next three days.
That same evening, I already had a use case for a project I'm now working on. I'd initially ruled out blockchain because of gas fees but @tibfox (Hive dev) assured me transactions are free.
I was genuinely amazed.
I came with zero expectations and left having met authentic humans IRL who are not the usual crypto bros.
The HOD gang have varied interests and I definitely spotted some neurospicy, kindred spirits.
Muchas gracias to all the lovely souls I met last weekend and I hope to see you all in Barcelona!
@sinochip @livinguktaiwan @tibfox
@schmidi@ninaeatshere @ratona @m31
@lemony-cricket @igormuba @mightyrocklee
@susieisclever @elsurtidor @haastrecht
@edje @curangel @nonsowrites @palomap3
@enraizar @ph1102 @honeydue @godfish
@machamorag2 @mipiano @reiseamateur
@alessandrawhite @bitterirony @hivevive
@marinasalvi3 @nikaradeva @anamz
@juanmatrader @dimrad @gissse
It will be interesting to see where this leads. I'll share more about what I'm building in future posts.
For now — hello Hive. I've got a feeling this wasn't an accident.
Have you ever stepped away from Web3 and had something (or someone) call you back? I'd love to hear your story.
Hey Kaye 👋 Great to see your first post.
You have a headstart in all this web3 thingy compared to many newbies coming to Hive. I knew nothing about it when I started, and still don't know much, so just stick with the vanilla writing.
Hive can be as techy or non techy you want it to be so, so I hope you find some place you feel comfortable here.
See you around!
I'm glad that you OGs are so welcoming. Thank you!
Planning to build something and let you all know how it goes.
It's a completely different system from what I know so there will be a learning curve too.
Us OGs just want real people to join the chain and have some fun. You wont believe how difficult that can be sometimes!!!
Look forward to seeing what you bring to the table. If you need any tech advice, just ask around, people are always willing to help. You've met a couple of devs at Alicante and they can always point you to someone else if it's not their SME
Nothing is by accident :) glad you found your way back here and glad to have met you.
Thank you. Enjoyed our chats and hope to see you again in BCN.
Hopefully. Hivefest is a lot larger than HOD usually as an event, but really fun (and with loads of great presentations/projects). See you soon!
Thank you to beeing with us. Welcome on HIVE!
Danke schon! Maybe see you again in BCN.
!vouch @tibfox
Welcome to Hive 😃
Thank you!
Hi @iamkaye welcome to Hive. I'm @palomap3 from Lovesniper OCD team.
I don’t really believe in coincidences; I firmly believe that following your instincts leads you to where the universe wants you to be. It was a pleasure to meet you, and I hope we can meet up again in Barcelona. You’re new to Hive, but you have a wealth of experience in Web3, it’ll be great to learn more from you. Here’s the information I usually give to new users but ask any question you may have. I hope you enjoy this new adventure!
Tips and information as a Hive newbie here: newbie guide.
Communities you might like that are part of the OCD Communities Incubation Program. Important: read their rules and post in the one that fits your content.
Have a good day!
Muchas gracias! Yes, I know people in Web3 but nobody invited me to Hive. It's almost like a secret community. I found it for a reason and I'm happy that I took a chance last weekend and met you all. Nos vemos en BCN.
It was a big pleasure meeting you in person and I am waiting here for your telegram / discord message for the project you have in mind ;)
Hope to see you soon somewhere in RL or the virtual world!
Ok, I'll DM you about it. Was just letting you chill after organising the #HOD. Well done!
I'm looking at the dev portal and have some ideas to check with you. Thank you.
Great, your first post! Believe me, the beginning is the hardest part, but with time everything becomes very easy!!
Especially since there's so much to discover here on Hive!! There are also NFTs on Hive. But take your time to learn the basics of Hive first!
Everyone here will be happy to help you!!
Cheer 🤠
Yes, I did it. It was a great weekend. I have a lot to learn. It's like moving to a new country and checking out the local culture.
I haven't looked at the NFTs yet and will do, thanks.
Hi Kaye!! You rocked #hodalicante❕
I’m planning a small @buzzparty #hivemeetup very soon in the UK. 🇬🇧 I’ll keep you in the loop.
To join @creativeworkhour, first join our Discord for the deets. I’ll meet you there!
We run daily live sessions from our Zoom.
2:45pm BST | 13:45 UTC
https://discord.gg/Gut9yr95F
Hi Alessandra
Thank you for your talk and the beautiful concert with @mipiano
I was so happy to hear you both play.
Please keep me in the loop as I might be able to join in the UK.
In the meantime, will join you for CWH. Cheers!
It was nice to meet you, to share a table in the bar with you, but also to have some interesting conversations... Can't wait to see your project developed on HIVE!
As we are living close, I have no doubts we will meet again at some of the next events/meetups! 🥂
It was a great weekend with you all. I have a lot to learn so I will be asking you Devs for help. Will be great to have a local meetup before the summer.
Hey, welcome to the community. It was great to meet you.
Thank you. Great to meet you last weekend!
Welcome to Hive! Funny story how you found out about Hive via a meeing app.
I am curious what you are planning to build!
Thank you. Life is indeed mysterious.
Hive is a complete ecosystem that is growing fast
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Welcome aboard, Kaye! :)
Thank you very much!
Bienvenida a bordo!
Muchas gracias mi niño!
Hive is growing at consistent pace
Good afternoon @iamkaye, you brought a lot of enthusiasm to the meeting and it was a pleasure meeting you. I also see from the post that we'll be able to benefit from your knowledge here at Hive. I hope we can meet again very soon.
Best regards!
It was great to meet you too! Hope to build something here and meet you all again in BCN, if not before.
I'm sure we'll see each other again soon.
Un saludo desde Madrid.
Web3 finds you when you least expect it.
Yes, it sure does!
Hello 👋🏻
Whenever we arrive somewhere, it’s because there’s something there we need to know or learn. So welcome! This is sure to be a fascinating journey.
Hola! Thank you for your message. I agree, and we don't know why until a bit later.
Looking forward to sharing the journey.
Welcome to the Hive blockchain!
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