Shitcoins vs Crypto Scams. What’s The Difference? 

There are many types of scams society has fallen victim to that have been around for decades. Charity scams, insurance scams, et al. are all too common, and they are more rampant than ever now we have the internet. And as technology emerges, anyone can simply create a crypto token which opens a pandora’s box of newly defined crypto chaos. 

The cryptocurrency market has exploded since the inception of Bitcoin, with 1000s of alternative coins now listed on various exchanges. Many have earned the respect of the crypto community by applying actual use-cases with developing technologies. While prominent cryptocurrency coins display transparency, genuine utility and serve a purpose for a decentralized application or an associated blockchain, many altcoins hold no real value. 

These coins are referred to as shitcoins and have no discernable purpose, and they are often targeted towards less experienced people in an effort to exploit them. The term shitcoin is commonly used for a copy or clone of another well-known crypto, or it can be a brand new project. It’s very much based on personal opinion. 

But are all shitcoins crypto scams? Not necessarily. There are inconspicuous scams out there orchestrated by greedy evil-doers hiding behind the guise of benevolence and charity and taking advantage of the crypto craze and people’s naivety of the nascent crypto industry. I’ll touch on that later with an example. 

Importantly, any crypto with no meaningful purpose and often no genuine demand for the coin, whatever value it may generate depends on pure speculation and is considered a precarious investment. Shitcoins are digital currencies that people believe to be valuable simply because they exist. Centered around hype and shills, they are very prone to pump and dumps and rarely recover. 

The crypto projects that rely on paid shills to pump their coin or token should be viewed with immense suspicion. Why should they feel the need to create an artificial perception of demand? Does that mean that there is no genuine organic interest in the project?

On a side note; If you’re not familiar with the terminology in this article relating to the crypto industry, here is a  breakdown of the most common crypto lingo.

How Easy Is It To Identify A Shitcoin?

It is often easy to identify a shitcoin because many follow a specific pattern. When a shitcoin is first launched, the token may attract some interest, but its price remains relatively low. The low price attracts newbie investors naively thinking they’ve invested in the “next Bitcoin,” further validated by a high-profile influencer backing it for whatever reason.

As interest peaks and investors jump in, prices spike quickly. This is almost always followed by the price tanking. The sharp fall in price is caused by investors selling their coins to profit from short-term gains. Usually, these pump and dump schemes are dominated by only a few “insiders” who really know the price dynamics and know when to sell to profit. The process is often associated with shitcoins and can leave many retail investors stuck with worthless tokens.

What Is The Most Obvious Sign?

The most obvious sign of a shitcoin is a lack of a well-defined function. 

Bitcoin was built for a decentralized payment network where financial transactions are secure, trustless, and censorship-resistant. It is now classed as the store of value for cryptocurrencies.

Ether, the coin native to the Ethereum blockchain, is used to validate transactions and secure the network. 

Binance Coin, the token native to the Binance Exchange, reduces fees on the Binance platform and powers the associated Binance Chain blockchain.

ADA, the native coin to the Cardano blockchain, is used to further develop applications, Defi, smart contracts, scalability, and interoperability. 

Hivecoin, Markethive’s native currency, is used to power a decentralized social media and multi-dimensional marketing platform, sovereign from the social media and tech oligopoly.   

Shitcoins do not have such clearly defined purposes.

Discerning a shitcoin is more straightforward when looking into the background development and associated project (if one exists). 

• Is the project a copy of an already-known cryptocurrency platform? 
• Does the project have an associated whitepaper? 
• Is the whitepaper copied from a different project? 
• Does the whitepaper reveal in-depth details on the technical implementation? Or is it just hyped up with promises and emotive images?
• Is there a clearly defined and credible road map?
• Is it raising money through an ICO based on the promise of a good return but lacking product, demo, or code? 

If there are contentious answers to any of these questions, the cryptocurrency could well be a shitcoin. A whitepaper is intended to be the technical details behind a project. It is not supposed to be an easy read. When a whitepaper is overly visual and lacks technical solutions, consider that a red flag. 

Numerous examples of projects have developed a cryptocurrency for something that really did not need one at all. Let’s not forget that the future value of a utility token will come from its actual use.

Three Widely Known Shitcoins

Although subjective, here are some of the more well-known shitcoins within the cryptocurrency market:

Dogecoin (DOGE). This meme-based cryptocurrency was designed around a comical picture of a Shiba Inu dog called Doge. The coin was initially created as a joke. Much of the coin's popularity has been the result of influencer encouragement and hype.

Shiba Inu (SHIB). Following Dogecoin's success, SHIB was developed as a token simply named after the Shiba Inu dog breed. It serves no purpose and is not associated with any blockchain or decentralized application. The maximum supply of tokens was set at one quadrillion.

Safemoon (SAFEMOON). Safemoon is a Ponzi-inspired coin that punishes holders for selling. Holders are charged an additional fee by the network when they sell, which is distributed to other holders. 

As I previously mentioned, it is so easy to generate a token for any reason. This video shows you what to do, or should I say what not to do, for the sake of the future of crypto and for humanity. 

The presenter also gives you his take on Safemoon and its ICO, which may be why certain authorities have outlawed ICO’s. Initial Coin Offerings are predominantly unregulated and have been the vehicle for scams and fraud. Consequently, the SEC has deemed them as securities and restricts unaccredited investors from participating. 

Crypto Scams Can Be Difficult To Recognize 

With technology, many projects can look legitimate at face value, so it’s easy to fall for their narrative as many unsuspecting people have done only to find they’ve been scammed with no recourse. 

Crypto scams have sky-rocketed, and it doesn’t help when popular social media influencers get involved claiming to be ambassadors for the cause. Playing on people’s emotions and goodwill makes the charity sector a sitting duck for crypto scams. 

One such example was the “Save The Kids” project, and unfortunately, many didn’t see the red flags and were fooled into investing their hard-earned money into this scam. There are many scams out there, but this one takes the cake for me. The video below explains it all.   

Finally...

There is a critical shortage of quality information about cryptocurrency, with only a handful of proven experts that can explain cryptocurrency and how it genuinely works in simple terms. There are millions of people desperate for more information to benefit from this developing industry which gives the opportunists a platform and immense power to shill and cook up crypto scams that can last for months or years. 

Scammers and shills take advantage of this narrow flow of information, purporting to be crypto gurus, and mislead or fool people looking for answers with their narrative, which by enlarge is speculative, even erroneous.  

Shitcoins are risky investments that most cryptocurrency enthusiasts should avoid. For investors who love risk and know what they’re doing, shitcoins may present an opportunity to make somewhat large but short-term profits. 

And outright scams? Well, tread very carefully. Do your research before committing. Who is behind the project? Are they credible? Have they been involved in any questionable projects in the past? How long have they been involved in the blockchain space? 

With experience comes knowledge and wisdom. As the saying goes, “Fool me once; shame on you. Fool me twice; shame on me." 

 

 

 

Shitcoins vs Crypto Scams. What's The Difference?: Shitcoins vs Crypto Scams. What’s The Difference?  ...

The Rise Of The DEX And Peek Into A New Financial System

Since DEXs are permissionless, no one checks your identity

DeFi (Decentralized Finance)  is a term used to cover various components and activities, including Decentralized crypto Exchanges or DEXs which are at the cutting edge of DEFI. The rapidly evolving market of the DEX allows peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions without the need for an intermediary.  

DeFi - A New Financial System

DeFi is a system by which financial products become available on a public decentralized blockchain network. That makes them open to anyone to use, rather than going through middlemen like banks, brokerages, and even centralized crypto exchanges.

Unlike the legacy financial institutions and centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs), the KYC/AML (Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering) protocol. These are usually government-issued ID, Social Security number, or proof of address. They are not necessary with the DeFi protocol and are welcomed by those concerned about their privacy and who cannot access valid documents.

More specifically, DeFi operates in a decentralized environment on public and permissionless blockchains, making it possible for buyers, sellers, lenders, and borrowers to interact peer to peer and use services encoded into open-source software protocols and smart contracts rather than a company or institution facilitating a transaction.

Historically, intermediaries have been the central hub acting as agents and brokers of trust, providing liquidity and security. Over the last century, the massive failings of this system, resulting in tumbling economies and the onset of a global recession, revealed a major flaw in the architecture. With the emerging technology, we can see a glimpse of a new financial services infrastructure. 

Decentralized finance uses technology to disintermediate centralized models and provides financial services on a global scale to anyone regardless of ethnicity, age, or cultural identity. It also gives users more control over their money through personal wallets and trading services that expressly cater to the individual, not institutions. 

 

Source: https://www.coingecko.com/

What Is A Centralized Exchange? (CEX) 

Since the inception of Bitcoin, coin exchanges were fundamental as the vehicle to connect buyers with sellers. These exchanges are centralized and facilitate every aspect of digital trading. On most CEXs, you must deposit fiat or cryptocurrency into an exchange-held crypto wallet before making trades. In the world of digital assets, this is called on-ramping (as opposed to off-ramping, when you withdraw and convert your crypto to fiat).

Although you can transfer your crypto to an external crypto wallet (non-custodial wallet), many users leave it in their custodial wallet managed by the exchange, so essentially you give up control of your crypto. You don’t own the private keys to your funds, which means that you ask the exchange to sign a transaction on your behalf when you withdraw. You need to trust the exchange with your money. 

Notably, in Sept. 2020, centralized exchanges accounted for approximately 95% of the crypto trading volume. CEXs function as trusted intermediaries in trades and often act as custodians by storing and protecting your private keys, and therefore your funds. Along with the cost of your independence, centralized exchanges have their challenges. 

They reside in specific geographic locations and are subject to stringent regulations. A recent example of this is Binance, which was banned from undertaking any regulated activity in the UK. Any centralized exchange can place limits and restrictions on its customer’s actions, and some have been the target of malicious attackers, hacks, and fraud. Overall, they are arguably centralized bottlenecks that stand in contrast to cryptocurrency’s open, decentralized ethos.

Centralized entities have dominated the field of crypto exchanges and are now more than ever at the behest of regulatory authorities. You know, the ones we are trying to separate ourselves from. But with the continuous evolution of technologies, decentralized exchanges are emerging as an alternative. 

 

Source: https://www.coingecko.com/

The Decentralized Exchange Approach (DEX)

DEX platforms use a different approach when facilitating the buying and selling of cryptocurrency. With no intermediary organization to clear transactions, DEXs leverage the functionality of self-executing smart contracts. Their backend exists on a blockchain, and as DEXs are non-custodial, no entity takes custody of your funds or control of your private keys.  

Since DEXs are permissionless, no one checks your identity. All you need is a cryptocurrency wallet. However, some DEXs are partially run by a central authority, so there are some legal requirements that need to be adhered to. In some cases, if the order book is centralized, the host must remain compliant.

DEXs have become more prominent today, with over 85 exchanges listed on Coingecko, offering advantages that impact custody of digital assets, diversity, transactional trust, investor privacy, and trading fees. 

 

What Are The Advantages Of A DEX?

Custody - No counterparty risk

The primary appeal of decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges is that they don’t hold customers’ funds. Being non-custodial also means you don’t relinquish control of private keys to transact. You have an external wallet that interacts with DEXs instead, where trades self-execute through smart contracts. 

This eliminates counterparty risk and breaches like the Mt. Gox hack in 2014 and, more recently, the Binance hack that has put users’ funds at risk and exposed sensitive personal information.
 
Diversity

Currently, there are over 9,000 cryptocurrencies on the market. CEXs choose the cryptocurrencies they list and generally only list those that meet the requirements. These are adequate trading activity, prevalence, and effective security standards to ensure profitability and legal compliance. 

Altcoins that aren’t listed on centralized exchanges can still be traded freely on DEXs, where peer-to-peer transactions can occur without high trading volumes. This provides a broader opportunity for engagement in digital assets and enhances financial inclusion.

Trustless Transactions 

On CEXs, every transaction is overseen and recorded by a central authority, the exchange itself. Through smart contracts, DEXs execute trades and record them to the blockchain, enabling trustless transactions. This means that the system is run autonomously by the blockchain protocol’s underlying technical architecture and consensus mechanism. 

Decentralized exchanges are distributed across a vast network of computers and governed by their stakeholders. Anyone can become a stakeholder in a crypto DEX, share in its evolution, and benefit financially from its growth. There are numerous elements foundational to the trustless nature of blockchain networks, including immutability, decentralization, transparency, censorship resistance, and neutrality.

Privacy

Investors and Traders using decentralized exchanges don’t need to disclose their private keys because wallets are held externally, and the DEX is not liable for the funds. For the same reason, users aren’t typically required to complete KYC and AML procedures when using DEXs. 

Lower Fees 

Decentralized exchanges have no intermediary and function through the use of self-executing smart contracts. Therefore, DEXs like Uniswap charge a lower fee of around 0.3%. Although these fees fluctuate in response to the network utilization, they remain far lower than the costs incurred on centralized alternatives.

 

Overcoming Obstacles

Over recent years, many decentralized exchanges have emerged and have experienced some obstacles, including limited scalability, throughput, liquidity, and usability. However, DeFi and DEX are still in the infant stages with ongoing innovation in the technology, iterating on previous attempts to streamline the user experience. 

Ethereum-based DEXs have seen increasing momentum and user adoption. New combinations of cutting-edge technology are helping later generation blockchains overcome the perceived shortcomings of earlier implementations. Cardano’s 3rd generation blockchain, DeFi platform, and Hydra technology will address the obstacles mentioned above.

The whole point of decentralized finance is to build financial services separate from the traditional financial and political system.

Interestingly, Cointelegraph recently reported the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission is very keen on understanding what is happening in the smart contract-based digital asset and DeFi landscape. Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the SEC, has warned of rampant “shadow-centralization” within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

Dubbed the crypto mom, Pierce believes that DeFi founders need to ensure complete decentralization from launch to bypass financial regulation. 

“If you want to be decentralized, you really need to be decentralized, and that is going to then put you in a different category from the perspective of regulators because that’s just not something that we’ve dealt with before.”

 

The Future Of DeFi And Crypto Exchanges 

DeFi will minimize the power from large centralized organizations and put it in the hands of the open-source community and individuals. It allows for a more open financial system preventing censorship and discrimination worldwide.  

Decentralized exchanges are a solution and valid alternative to centralized entities.  Through on-chain smart contracts, DEXs provide a trustless method of connecting buyers and sellers and offer new precedents of equitable involvement and governance for stakeholders.

No banks or corporate exchanges are required. While a board of directors runs banks, DEXs are run by the “customers” themselves. With increasing momentum, we will witness a ramping up of innovation in technology throughout the entire industry. The evolution of technology will challenge the status quo and heavily align with the ethos of self-sovereignty.

 

Sources: Gemini Cryptorials, Binance

 

The Rise Of The DEX And Peek Into A New Financial System: Since DEXs are permissionless, no one checks your identity ...

Stimulus Payments - How Much Went Into Bitcoin?  

What About Altcoins? Surprising Results 

Last year, we saw governments across the globe dole out billions of dollars to their citizens in an attempt to offset some of the economic impacts of the pandemic lockdowns. While that money was intended for food and rent, some of it managed to find its way into the crypto market. 

This has led many to wonder just how big of an impact all those stimulus checks, otherwise labeled Economic Impact Payments (EIP), have had on the crypto market. The United States Federal Reserve has also been wondering the same thing, so they recently published a study with surprising results and even more surprising regulatory recommendations. 

The study was conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank Of Cleveland, specifically, which is one of the 12 Regional Banks which collectively make up the Federal Reserve System in the United States. The Federal Reserve is the privately held independent entity within the US government which issues federal reserve notes, also known as US Dollars. 

 The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland differs from the other Fed branches in that it is the only one that handles collections for the US Department of the treasury. In other words, they provide the payment system that the US government uses to collect taxes and pay back government debt. This seems to include any payments made by individuals or institutions to the US government. 

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland also supports the treasury's objective of expanding the use of digital products and payment services across the federal government, as quoted on their website. It’s not surprising that many of its constituents are interested in crypto. Two of them recently released the study, Uncovering Retail Trading in Bitcoin the Impact of COVID-19 Stimulus Checks. 

In contrast to academic studies, this Fed study is technically a working paper that is circulated among all Federal Reserve officials to discuss, according to the second page of the paper. So with all this context in mind, let's take a look.

First Section Of The Study

The first section of the Fed's stimulus study lays the groundwork for the entire paper. It starts by noting that the Fed was inspired to analyze the effects of stimulus checks on the crypto market after data released by Coinbase, CEO Brian Armstrong in mid-April of 2020, featuring an image which shows that there's a massive spike in buy orders and deposits on Coinbase in the $1,200 range. 

Who Was Eligible?

As explained in the second section of the Fed study, every adult in the United States that earns less than $75K per year was eligible to receive a no-strings-attached stimulus payment for $1,200. Those making between $75K and $99K per year were still eligible to receive some, but this amount approaches zero as their income approaches the upper-income limit.

Given that the median salary in the United States is only around $36k, the vast majority of adults were eligible to receive some helicopter money, and seven out of ten received their Economic Impact Payment (EIP) by the end of May 2020. 

This totaled nearly $270 billion, which was just 10% of the over $2 trillion the CARES Act eventually pumped into the US economy. Around that time, both the stock market and the crypto Market accelerated their recoveries from the massive crash in early March, which is believed to have been caused by the World Health Organization's announcement that a pandemic was indeed upon us.

Interestingly, the rally out of the slump began long before the EIPs started being sent out. The Fed believes that the mere announcement of monetary measures was enough to jump-start the recovery in asset markets. Although there have been two more rounds of stimulus payments since last year, the Fed's working paper only focuses on the first round of stimulus, which went out in March of 2020.

 

Methods Used To Determine Effect

The third section of the FED study details the methods they used to determine how much of an effect the stimulus checks from last spring had on the price of Bitcoin. First, the Fed took trading data from Kaiko, a crypto data research company, about BTC buy orders on 26 cryptocurrency exchanges between January 1st and June 5th, 2020. Then they identified any buy orders at the $1,200 range and divided the initial time frame into two periods, January 1st to April 9th, and April 9th to June 5th.

They did this because the first round of stimulus checks was sent out on April 9th, and the remainder were distributed in the weeks that followed. Logically, the Fed predicted that there would be more $1,200 BTC buy orders between April and June than between January and April. The number of these orders could then estimate how much of that money was invested into Bitcoin. 

It stands to reason there are many confounding variables like multiple price points besides the $1200, where retail investors only invested a portion of their stimulus checks. They pointed out people with children are unlikely to invest in speculative assets. They highlighted the fact that most cryptocurrency investors tend to be young and single, among other variables. Still, overall the Fed actually did a pretty good job of accounting for most of them. 

 

Significant Findings

The 4th, 5th, and 6th sections of the Fed study reveal results for their various hypotheses in detail; however, how the last findings related to the impact of the EIPs on the price of Bitcoin are nowhere close to the magnitude that you'd expect. Of the nearly 270 billion dollars of stimulus money sent out to Americans, only about $58 million found its way into Bitcoin between April 9th and June 5th. 

Now, this might sound like a lot, but it's barely enough to push up the price of BTC by 5% on a single cryptocurrency exchange, much less the entire crypto market. According to the Fed, stimulus payments only accounted for 3.8% of BTC trades by number and 0.7% of trades by value during that time. 

In terms of the actual price, all the buy orders they analyzed, $1200, $1000, $600, $500, and $100, only managed to push up the price of Bitcoin by 0.22% between April 9th and June 5th. When you isolate the $1,200 payments, that BTC price pump drops to just 0.05%. So it just goes to show you that there are much bigger things that move the crypto market.

 

The Main Takeaways

The last section of the Fed’s stimulus study lays out a few conclusions and some regulatory recommendations for future stimulus programs. The main takeaway is that only 0.02% of all stimulus checks were spent on bitcoin: Ascertaining that,

“Policymakers should not be concerned about money being diverted to cryptocurrency markets when considering similar economic relief programs in the future.” 

It’s good news they came to this conclusion, but these findings are only pertaining to BTC. Bitcoin is just one of many cryptocurrencies that make up the crypto market and, these days, doesn't account for the majority share by market cap. 

 

What About Altcoins? 

It's possible that some of last year's stimulus money ended up in altcoins, and arguably the amount is probably more significant than the $58 million that went into Bitcoin. Considerable evidence for this is a study conducted by Coinbase in May 2020 which found that 40% of retail investors buy altcoins instead of Bitcoin, and more than half of those who purchase Bitcoin buy altcoins eventually. 

As shown in the chart above, the Coinbase study indicates a whopping 76% of crypto investors ultimately put their money into altcoins. Unlike BTC, which requires tens of millions of dollars to change its price on any given day, it’s often the case that even just a few hundred thousand dollars is more than enough to move an altcoin up or down by double-digit percentages. 

Bitcoin does carry the flag for the crypto space universally, as the store of value for all cryptos, much like gold was when it backed fiat currency. However, although some retail investors cut their teeth with Bitcoin, they are branching into other assets with prominent use-cases that provide differentiated services. 

Therefore stimulus-driven investing could have had a significant impact on the price of select altcoins while having a negligible effect on Bitcoins price. Cardano’s ADA has soared over the past few months, holding firm in the dip of many cryptos, including Bitcoin. 

Further evidence for stimulus-driven altcoin investing was the Bitcoin dominance chart when there was a significant dip in Bitcoin dominance in April, which is precisely when the bulk of those stimulus payments were sent out. 

Correlation certainly doesn't equal causation, but it's pretty clear that the average retail investor of today realizes the importance and utility some altcoins have with emerging technology, providing much-needed solutions to issues that have arisen within the industry and externally. 

Of all the crypto reports and studies out there, this one is probably the most significant. Besides the fact that the United States Federal Reserve conducted it, it underscores just how small of an effect retail money has on the price of Bitcoin. To move a trillion-dollar asset, you need trillions of dollars, and that's something the average person doesn't have. 

There are golden opportunities in the altcoin market the average retail investor can afford. When you think about the billions of people on social media and the swarms of digital media, marketing, and advertising on the internet, a decentralized blockchain project in this space is the ticket and answer to the social and financial issues experienced in today’s climate. 

 

Markethive - The Answer

With crypto smarts and not-so-crypto-savvy, many retail investors are coming to Markethive and supporting the social media and digital marketing network. Why? Because they are looking for a platform that promotes freedom and sovereignty. A place where entrepreneurs can flourish professionally, artistically, and financially, away from the pressures of the legacy Web 2 tech giants. 

Never before has a blockchain crypto project been attempted at this scale, but given the distributed data technology Markethive is integrating, it’s the next step in the evolution of multi-dimensional social media, marketing, and advertising. 

Markethive’s Hivecoin is one of the select altcoins that will rise and empower the retail investor. Its use case is the pinnacle and essential for this fungible asset coin to become very valuable to any user in the social media, marketing, and digital media industry. 

The various ways to earn Hivecoin, including airdrops, bounties, and staking capabilities, make it easy to accumulate and grow your portfolio. The added advantage of Markethive’s decentralized exchange and wallet soon to be released creates a robust, thriving ecosystem for the average Jack and Jill - The aspiring entrepreneur and retail investor. 

 

 

 

 

Stimulus Payments - How Much Went Into Bitcoin?: Stimulus Payments - How Much Went Into Bitcoin?   ...

What Are Content Entrepreneurs In 2021?

What Are Content Entrepreneurs In 2021? 

Who Are They? Where Do They Live? How Do They Make Money? 

Do you remember what was happening on the internet at the turn of the century? Cast your mind back to the Dot.Com era when web blogging first became a thing. Initially named Weblog, it was a new avenue for many writers, aspiring or seasoned, that had opened up. The internet was hungry for content, and many who grasped the opportunity could mark their territory, gather a significant audience, and monetize their creative work—a virtual land of opportunity for anyone connected to the internet. 

These days, some would argue that the blogging gold rush has all but dried up in terms of monetization or even generating an audience. Given the enormous amount of content accessible today, it would seem much more difficult to reach a level of success as a prominent, self-sustaining writer in any niche. 

But the truth is, in today's climate, the art of the wordsmith has never been more critical, particularly in digital business and marketing. The art of writers and content creators puts ideas and information of any business into consumers’ eyes, ears, and hands. Without the nuances of this art, the best products and services won’t stand out, be discovered, or connect with the right customers and clients. 

 

Succeeding as a content entrepreneur takes time, patience, and a business mindset. The advantage of a platform with the technology and a community that supports the artists and their right to express themselves and facilitates the monetization aspect is a great place to start for aspiring content creators, B2C and B2B bloggers. 

Online business owners must be aware that failure to adjust to new trends will impede the likelihood of consumers ever seeing their content, resulting in loss of business or even collapse. What we see now is a rise of content entrepreneurs, culminating their art with a hybrid of creativity, strategy, and technology. Combining strategic, artistic vision with existing and emerging technologies helps people turn fleeting interactions into genuine connections.   

Food For Thought

If you’re a nervous newbie in the content marketing space and think that everything has already been said or written about, just perform your own research and add your point of view. Writing content that changes the world exists in the world, not in your mind.

In the words of Brian Clark,  

“The way you become a writer, and eventually a great writer, is to write. If the desire to write isn’t there, you’re going to have to learn to work well with creative writers to execute on your strategic vision.”

A good rule of thumb for when you’re choosing one of your many ideas to write about is; If it has even the slightest possibility of helping someone, give it a try.

 

I came across a recent study conducted by The Tilt. It’s the first of its kind regarding content entrepreneurs and looks at what defines them, how they grow their audience and monetize content, and what it takes to be successful. These people do not “hustle”; instead, they are serious entrepreneurs building niche audiences—a group of serious business owners who have found a new way to build a business.

What Are Content Entrepreneurs?

The Tilt quoted that content entrepreneurs (CEs) make money by turning valuable and interesting content into revenue streams. Some are solopreneurs making a comfortable income based on sharing their unique expertise with a niche audience. Others are powering high-growth content ventures that employ many. All are part of a new movement of professionals pursuing work on their own terms.

Content entrepreneurs span all age groups, industries, and channels, not just the viral young influencers on Tik Tok, which seems to be the stereotype. For the most part, a CEs success isn't based on a viral hit or a massive audience. Founder of The Tilt, and facilitator of the research, Joe Pulizzi, cites. “Just don’t call them influencers; content entrepreneurs are building businesses.”

Content entrepreneurs are the people driving the creator economy. Yet, few truly understand them.

Content entrepreneurs have a singular focus: growing their audience by filling a particular informational need. And by doing this well, they can “monetize” that audience. They are building something akin to a media company. 

A Unique Group Of People 

With over 1400 entrepreneurs surveyed, the research concluded that CEs fully supporting themselves are most likely Gen X or Boomers. The split between full-time and part-time was roughly 50:50. Younger entrepreneurs were more likely to treat content creation as a side gig. 

Full-time CEs are significantly more likely to be financially successful with a median investment of $10,000, and 75% are funding their content businesses with personal savings. Very few seek capital from venture capitalists or angel investors. 

Most content entrepreneurs use no single revenue tactic for monetization; the most common are advertising and sponsored content, membership fees, online courses, events, and speaking fees. Revenue is derived from a combination of these monetization channels and, more recently, cryptocurrency rewards by blockchain-driven platforms like;

• Markethive: An inbound marketing, social media hybrid, and broadcasting digital media platform for entrepreneurs - Content, B2B and B2C.
• Steemit: A blogging platform where writers are rewarded with upvotes by readers in the Steemit community. 
• The Tilt: An education, training, and news platform for content entrepreneurs. 

For those who operate their content business full time, the survey found that the median annual revenue was $50K. Experience is a factor in achieving higher income. The median revenue for content entrepreneurs in business four to seven years was $100K, while those in it for longer than seven years saw a median revenue of $125K.

How Do CEs Grow Their Audience?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the only audience-growth tactic cited by more than half (56%) of the content entrepreneurs. Hashtags came in second, cited by 48%. Partnerships with creators or entrepreneurs came in third (44%), followed closely by social media advertising (43%).

Freedom And Independence - The Top Motivator 

The assumption that content entrepreneurs turn a hobby into a business and pursue their passion while working does describe some. However, the overwhelming consensus of 86% of solopreneurs and 89% of micropreneurs is that CEs seek independence as the priority and can control their careers. They want to work on their terms at a time and place they determine. 

Almost nine out of ten of all content entrepreneurs agree they became content entrepreneurs “to achieve financial freedom on my own terms.” They are abandoning the traditional pathways to success and building an entirely new model for professional work. 

Content entrepreneurs are fierce independents, discarding the traditional college education in favor of on-the-job training. 85% of respondents believe a college degree is not required to succeed as a CE. 95% say they can operate their content business anywhere that has reliable internet. 

The study also revealed that Covid-19 generated a new cohort of content entrepreneurs. More than half (54%) of those who launched their business in the last year was influenced by the pandemic. 

Next Level Independence

The survey revealed a lack of awareness and appreciation among the respondents regarding issues that could thwart long-term content business success, like deplatforming and losing their audience. Many content entrepreneurs are relying on third-party platforms; the recent survey indicated that they use Facebook (76%), Instagram (66%), LinkedIn (60%), Twitter (51%), and YouTube (47%).

The above platforms mediate the relationship between creator and consumer and control at least some of the content entrepreneur’s business. Since these tech giants are for-profit businesses, their goal is to make money for their owners, not the creators. They can change the rules any time they want to make a more profitable business regardless of the impact on creators. They can even use insights from the CE’s audience to develop competing products and services. 

A new breed of CEs is eliminating or reducing the intermediary relationship with these platforms, finding ways to reach their audience directly rather than relying on third-party channels and ad revenues. They’re taking “independence” to the next level. 

As Amanda McLoughlin, creator and chief executive of the podcast collective Multitude, explains, 

“Audiences are powerful, and creators don’t need anyone’s permission to build one of their own or to ask them for support. As media companies continue to consolidate, our relationship with our audience and the autonomy of owning our work are more valuable than ever.” 

To view the full report, download the PDF here. 

Markethive - Giving CEs Back Their Freedom And Autonomy On One Comprehensive Platform

One platform that has addressed the issues of deplatforming and lack of control or autonomy over an entrepreneur’s livelihood is Markethive. A blockchain-driven ecosystem for entrepreneurs allows individuals to own their work autonomously and generate a substantial income without intermediaries.

It’s like having your own site with the advantages of Storefronts with POS shopping carts and access to the analytics and insights from your audience and customers. As a Markethive Entrepreneur, you are not beholden to the whims and rule changes of large social and tech platforms (e.g., algorithm changes, arbitrary blocking, and withholding of data). 

CEs at Markethive can leverage new monetization strategies and emerging opportunities such as digital media aggregation and curation, the press release, and sponsored article platform that offer more control and much healthier margins. 

Markethive has a built-in social media interface where you already have an engaged, interested audience and target market. The Blog Subscribe, and blogcasting feature that remotely broadcasts out to all other social media is a great way to expand your audience and increase reach. The unique combined news feed interface currently in development will make it that much more compelling.

Markethive has two engines (subscriber and traffic) driving it and simultaneously bringing millions of entrepreneurs into this safe haven, the central hub, and gateway to the internet universe. Alexa and WorthOfWeb measure both the subscriber and traffic engines’ speed and power, and in the case of Markethive, they are growing daily in an exponential fashion.

With its two major engines at the helm and secondary engines such as the Hivecoin and exchange and all cottage businesses within Markethive, reaching out to all other platforms is fundamentally the core; the epicenter where we all work in collaboration, ensuring everyone’s success. 

According to The Tilt, CEs are the most powerful engine fueling growth and change within the creator economy movement, and they’ve only just begun. Markethive nurtures the content entrepreneur and delivers a ‘state of the art platform’ to you, but it is your company. 

Markethive has been built for the community and brings self-sovereignty, privacy, autonomy to every individual with a genuine opportunity to be in control of your future, peace of mind, fulfilling your potential, creating wealth, and being able to prosper in so many ways. Markethive is its name; Entrepreneurialism is its game. 

Are You a Content Entrepreneur?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Are Content Entrepreneurs In 2021? : What Are Content Entrepreneurs In 2021

A New Internet In The Making Thwarting Centralized Entities

decentralization is the future

Decentralization Empowering People

We live in an increasingly interconnected world with 4.66 billion people connected via the internet. We pay each other, share data, and communicate with each other within seconds. This is all seemingly wonderful, but the truth is we are not connected with each other.  Instead, we are connected to centralized multinational companies and data merchants we are forced to trust with everything we do.

It’s a scary reality that most people are living in today; however, decentralization is the future. The transition from centralized platforms to decentralized ones is going to be the most profound and disruptive change we’ll ever see in our lives.

 

What Is Decentralization?

In short, it is the transfer of control and decision-making from a centralized entity, an individual, organization, government, or company to a distributed network. Decentralized networks reduce the level of trust that people have to place in each other and significantly reduce the ability of any centralized entity to exert authority or control over that Network.

One of the most well-known examples of decentralization is cryptocurrency. This feature is the key reason why it's so valued amongst the crypto community and tech Geeks. No single entity can stop you from transferring Bitcoin to another person. 

However, there are numerous examples of people who have had their bank accounts shut down because they bought Bitcoin. So it seems any given bank can dictate what its customers can or cannot do with their money. 

Earlier this year, HSBC in the UK is just one example of a centralized entity banning all crypto transactions using their debit or credit cards. They did it because they can and obviously don’t like crypto. That, in a nutshell, is the problem with centralization and demonstrates how easy it is to ban, confiscate, and shut off those systems at will. 

 

No Longer A Luxury But A Utility 

The internet plays a massive role in our lives today, with a vast majority tapped into social media platforms. Facebook currently has 2.6 billion users who seem to be oblivious to its dictatorial and underlying agendas. Also, buying goods and services online has become commonplace and a preferred option in many cases, which is a bit of a worry in such centralized environments. 

Centralized social media platforms are fundamentally gilded cages controlled by a CEO not only heavily incentivized to generate stellar earning reports for its shareholders but wields a judgemental partisan approach limiting free speech and liberties of the users’. 

For years now, the tech giants have been data harvesting our personal details. They are notorious for de-platforming anyone who doesn’t agree or is not compliant with their overzealous ruling. So, essentially we have lost access to content and have no control over our data or how it’s used, which could endanger many people’s lives and privacy. 

Our data is controlled by these data barons, which is very much a security and privacy concern. One of the biggest data barons of them all is Equifax, and in 2017, they suffered one of the most significant data breaches ever. Hackers stole the personal information of 143 million U.S. customers that included data, like Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, and in some cases, driving licenses. 

All the information needed to commit identity fraud and is one of the most egregious frauds in existence. The fraudsters can acquire a credit card in the name of a stolen identity and destroy their credit rating. 

The fact that centralized businesses own the algorithmic black box is kind of creepy, and for some people, it could lead to harassment, stalking and could actually be a matter of life or death. 

All that is particularly significant when we consider that we're living in an age where personal data can be weaponized against people. Are these platforms now so big that they are utility and not a luxury that can be just switched off at their discretion?

 

Internet Centralization Runs Deep

Internet centralization runs very deep with the likes of internet tech giants such as Amazon Web Services, Alibaba, Microsoft, etc. AWS alone hosts over 9 million websites that they can virtually “play God” with and have done earlier this year by withdrawing its services and support from an upcoming alternative platform promoting free speech. Under the guise of violating AWS terms of service, it is arguably a politicized judgment call that can incapacitate companies and their users, their right to communicate their beliefs.  

Of course, there’s the issue of outages where it was touted that AWS in North Virginia temporarily “broke the internet,” affecting Downtector.com, impacting websites, cloud storage, encryption, and content delivery, leaving many in a spin, some thought the end was coming.

To illustrate another critical flaw with a centralized internet is that so-called authorities could censor the internet or suppress democratic protests by switching off the internet in their country. It has actually happened in Egypt during the Arab Spring protests in 2011 and was used more recently during the military coup in Myanmar in February this year. 

 

The Dawn Of Web 3

What we are experiencing is all part of Web 2 and defined as the majority of today’s most-used internet platforms are controlled by only a handful of powerful companies, which profit from the data users generate. The next phase of the internet is one in which the users’ take back control from the centralized corporations. 

Known as Web 3, it’s a decentralized version of the internet and essentially a way for individuals to use it without giving up their privacy and valuable data. With the utilization of Blockchain technology, no single entity can gain control as the network is distributed across many different nodes.  

Also, money is native to the internet, so instead of relying on traditional financial infrastructures like banks and all the restrictions that come with them, people can transact quickly globally and in a permissionless manner via cryptocurrencies. 

 

Decentralized Social Media Emerging

A few companies are working hard to make Web 3 a reality. A pioneer in the social media and marketing realm is Markethive. The company has successfully bypassed the centralized web services, like AWS and Microsoft, and operates on their own cloud system. Markethive is working on expanding its clouds, called Mining Hives, throughout the world.

This means all data pertaining to Markethive and its users will not be stored on servers owned and controlled by a centralized entity. Instead, it is a distributed database on the Markethive  Blockchain with no single point of failure and no internet disruption or censoring by the likes of dictatorial authorities who may decide to shut off the internet. 

With the recent news of the U.S. Senate’s proposal to onerously regulate the crypto industry, which will stifle the United States, the importance of decentralization has escalated. It shows that the government views crypto as a real threat and, of course, another way to refill its coffers. This bombshell has the crypto industry in an uproar, with U.S. companies moving offshore to more crypto-friendly countries. 

To protect all Markethive associates and continue to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem to bring financial and self-sovereignty, Markethive is in the process of building a new offshore corporation for launching its decentralized exchange (DEX) and wallet. This Web 3 development is an inspiring and timely milestone that should be ready by September this year. 

It is a Godsend and a blessing to have a social media and inbound marketing platform empower its community, integrating Blockchain and cryptocurrency in a decentralized environment to circumvent the ‘powers that be” in this ever-darkening world. Markethive will play a prominent role in the re-invention of the social media space to preserve and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit.     

 

 

 

Written by Deb Williams
Chief Editor and writer for Markethive.com, the social, market, broadcasting network. An avid supporter of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. I thrive on progress and champion freedom of speech and sovereignty.  I embrace "Change" with a passion, and my purpose in life is to enlighten people en masse, accept and move forward with enthusiasm.

 

 

A New Internet In The Making Thwarting Centralized Entities: decentralization is the future

The Markethive Boost Launches

Markethive  Launches the Boost

Time to “Release The Boost” Unleash the Marketing Beast In All Of Us!

Now that we’ve got the Markethive Donation Wheel of Fortune spinning, giving away valuable prizes with every spin, it’s time to release The Boost. This launch is just the beginning of Markethive’s proprietary portfolio of advertising services. 

Fashioned from the Facebook Boost system, the Markethive Boost is a foundational inclusion and fundamental to the Markethive ecosystem. The service will “boost” your marketing efforts to every subscriber in the Markethive community with enormous potential to increase your brand awareness, conversions, and engagement. 

 

Facebook Organic Reach Declining 

Since 2014, Facebook’s organic reach has been declining, with a more significant dip in organic reach in 2018 due to a considerable change in its news feed algorithm. Facebook started to shift ranking, focusing on delivering more posts from friends and family to any FB news feed.

The new algorithm didn’t bode well for marketers and businesses. As a result, marketing content had to take a back seat to content from friends and family - a value that Facebook says it originally had and that it's trying to return to. 

Consequently, a Facebook Page only has a 2% reach. Additionally, Facebook says you should assume organic reach will eventually arrive at zero. So, if you really want to reach your target audience on Facebook, you’ll need to supplement your organic efforts with some paid advertising. 

Image: Agorapulse

Hence, the boosted post feature, which is opined by many as a design to funnel money from your bank account into Facebook’s coffers swiftly and consistently. And still, your publication will only reach a small percentage of your friends. Audience targeting options are limited and not designed to help you create a well-optimized campaign. 

Granted, the more you pay, the higher the estimated reach, which can cost thousands. The average is $1000; however, this will only give you access to your friends and subscribers of your page. These are people that you have already worked for or even paid to have in your sphere of influence.

Facebook Analogy

Think of it like this: Imagine you have invited a large number of your friends for a banquet. Typically, you would mix with everyone much like a cocktail party setting before being seated at the table. However, at a Facebook dinner party, you must remain seated. 

You start a conversation, but only the four people closest to you at the table hear you. The guests further down the table don’t. The Facebook Boost would have you pay $1000 to include a few more to listen to what you're saying, but not all of them. 

The next time you host a dinner party, you need to pay to have a few more people hear you. Ten of them may be your friends that you couldn’t speak to before and six that already heard you at the last party. So you still are unable to get your message across to the entire table and probably never will. 

And you definitely will not be able to put your message on the loudspeaker at the front of your house to speak to the people barbequing in their backyard. In other words, you can never go outside the boundaries of your groups, pages, friends, or colleagues. Even within the boundaries, your message will not reach your audience in total. 

 

What Sets Markethive Apart? 

The Markethive standard news feed already allows your posts to reach all your friends’ news feeds, always organically. That’s 100%. There is no algorithm preventing your posts from being seen by all your friends and group members. No shadow banning or 3rd party deciding what you should and should not see.  

And now, with the Markethive Boost service, you also have a PA system to communicate with the entire membership, not just your friends and associates. If they like your message and subscribe to you, you are then publishing to their sphere of influence and social networks.

The Markethive Boost will always be considerably less expensive than other similar systems out there. Initially, the Boost will allow you to post on every member’s news feed for one flat fee for free members and a discounted fee for upgraded Entrepreneur One and Premium members. The standard BOOST prices will be $200 for free members and $100 for upgraded members.

As the Markethive Boost evolves, it will become layered to the level you want it delivered, including different prices to deliver via hashtags, keywords, most active, number of friends, etc. This allows you to customize and target your audience to build brand awareness, increase leads, drive sales, and promote overall business growth. 

Also, Entrepreneur One upgrades will be able to offer a free boost to new signups and members with our code generator. You simply choose a block of “BOOSTS,” pay for them, then distribute them as incentives to join Markethive or Members who accept your invitation to join your groups or make store purchases. 

 

Introductory Offer

Right now, though, for a limited time, in line with the release of The Boost, you can take advantage of the special introductory of only $20 to send your message into the News Feed of the entire Markethive membership. The offer will be for 30 days and is available for all members of every level.   

The whole Markethive Boost concept will enable aspiring entrepreneurs to meet their marketing goals with the knowledge and satisfaction that their message reaches far beyond the scope outlined in Facebook for a lot less cost. Furthermore, you have a like-minded, receptive audience of business professionals and entrepreneurs.

After all, Markethive is an ecosystem for entrepreneurs providing a valuable automated marketing platform, commerce portals with a social network where users can learn, engage, and expand markets. We’ll let Facebook get back to its family and friends’ focus while the next generation social market network transcends with putting the needs of entrepreneurs, companies, and marketers first. 

Come to this Sunday’s meeting and see The Boost in action. Also, CEO and Founder of Markethive, Thomas Prendergast, will randomly give coins, banner impressions, Free Spins (In the Wheel Of Fortune), and a free Boost to a few lucky attendees. Be there!

 

 

Written by Deb Williams
Chief Editor and writer for Markethive.com, the social, market, broadcasting network. An avid supporter of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. I thrive on progress and champion freedom of speech and sovereignty.  I embrace "Change" with a passion, and my purpose in life is to enlighten people en masse, accept and move forward with enthusiasm.

 

The Markethive Boost Launches: Markethive  Launches the Boost ...