Introduction

Freelancing, popularly referred to as the Gig Economy, emerged as a solution to hiring and managing human resources. Companies could now recruit talent only when needed, saving costs without compromising on quality, and freelancers had the freedom to work multiple jobs and tailor their work schedules to fit their lifestyles. However, as the freelance sector evolved, the centralized platforms became too powerful, with multiple intermediaries, exorbitant fees, delayed payments, and harsh working conditions.

In response to these challenges, Hyve is bringing blockchain technology to the world of freelancing, creating a decentralized system that offers fairer payments, flexible working conditions, collaboration, and community governance.

In this piece, we will explore the Hyve Platform, its workings, token utility, and roadmap.

What is Hyve?

Source: Hyve

Hyve is a web3-based freelance platform for freelancers and their potential clients. It sees the global labor industry as an avenue to collaborate, hence the name ‘Hyve’, based on the life of bees known for their work ethic and collaborative efforts towards building their colony.

Traditional freelance platforms often charge commissions of up to 20% on each gig and take up to seven days to settle payments after task completion. Freelancers and employers also run a risk of data breach, where sensitive information can be exposed to the company or unauthorized parties if the platform’s security is compromised.

Additionally, the decentralized nature of the Hyve platform ensures that user data remains secure and private. Hyve supports payment in multiple cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins, so international payments can be settled without going through payment channels that are slow and expensive.

Hyve is live on over 10 blockchains including Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, Blast, Base, etc, and is backed by Vendetta Capital.

Brief History of Hyve

Founded in 2020, by Tudor Stomff, Brad Yasar, and Dominic Burghelea. The three crypto entrepreneurs saw a need to address the issues facing the freelancing industry. Tudor and Dominic had previously co-founded Bountyhive, a web3 marketing agency that garnered over 150 clients at its peak. Brad is an experienced investor with interests in AI, Metaverse, DeFi, and Digital Banking.

Partnership

Kleros

Source: Kleros

Kleros is a blockchain dispute resolution layer that handles conflicts between freelancers and their clients on the Hyve Platform.

Use Case

Hyve will be a marketplace connecting freelancers with clients for project-based work, tasks, and digital assets. This can benefit both sides as freelancers can find work opportunities and clients can access a talent pool.

Product Comparison

Let’s compare some of the features of the Hyve Platform with those of popular centralized platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.

How Does Hyve Work?

The Hyve Platform has an interface similar to the popular centralized platforms, where employers can list their tasks and freelancers can also display their services for employers to hire. To maintain the ecosystem, Hyve charges about 0.5% of the listing value in ETH, and 0.25% in HYVE tokens for posting tasks and offerings.

Employer Tasks showing basic details about the requirements of an available Job
(Source: Hyve)

Freelancer Offerings showcase the services and current rates of a freelancer
(Source: Hyve)

When a freelancer has been engaged, the amount assigned for completing a task is held in escrow by the HYVE Smart Contract and paid out as soon as their work is done and accepted. Depending on the employer’s preference, the completion of a task is verified by a human or smart contract.

The self-verifiable task feature is a unique use case of smart contracts carried out on the Hyve Protocol. The task issuer creates the task and ties an identifier to it through the Hype Developer Software Development Kit. As the freelancer executes a predefined action, its proof is automatically broadcasted to the blockchain making it immutable and publicly verifiable.

Hyves

Hyves are teams of freelancers who collaborate on tasks together, they can be best described as mini-DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) within the Hyve ecosystem.

Members of a Hyve can:

• Vote on default percentage allocations for earnings
• Decide percentage allocations for specific jobs
• Remove members from the team
• Bring new members on board
• Appoint leaders

Agents — On-chain Hiring Agencies

Agents are users that connect hosts to freelancers, they are positioned to optimize the hiring process by connecting the most appropriate talent to a specific task. Agents earn between 1% and 10% of the talent’s payment.

Dispute Resolution & Arbitration

Currently, dispute resolution on other freelancing platforms is a slow process often yielding biased results. Hyve is partnering with Kleros, a blockchain dispute resolution layer. Kleros uses a sub-court system where jurors know about the dispute field. Jurors are regular users incentivized to vote coherently and penalized for voting incoherently.

Note: According to its roadmap, Hyve will create the user role of Arbitrators who will resolve disputes in-house.

Storage

Hyve uses the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) to store work-related documents, a peer-to-peer protocol for storing data in a distributed file system.

Compliance

The labor industry is highly regulated, and there might be a need to protect intellectual property or sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement. However, there is no way to enforce such on the blockchain yet, as the legality of smart contracts is still a gray area. Hyve complies with the current legal system requirements by allowing its users to sign contracts off-chain and then store them on the IPFS. The blockchain witnesses its authenticity and makes it immutable.

The Hyve Ecosystem

Source: Hyve
The Hyve Platform is divided into 3 functional components. They are; Hyve Core, Hyve Protocol and Hyve Client.

Hyve Core

The ecosystem’s open-source codebase guarantees the Hyve Platform’s flexibility and security. It handles autonomy, governance, and task curation, among other critical functions.

Hyve Protocol

The part of the ecosystem that handles tasks and services. It features a flexible way of creating tasks through the Hyve Developer SDK and also supports self-verification such that when a task is completed, proof of its completion is automatically recorded on-chain.

Hyve Client

This window to the Hyve Platform offers a web2 level of user experience, so users do not need blockchain knowledge to use the Platform. Currently available as a web browser, an app version is being developed. The app will have more features and a better user experience, including a wallet compatible with ERC-20, ERC-223, and ERC-777 tokens. The app will be available for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Roadmap

As of this writing, HYVE is undergoing a rebranding process, with plans to upgrade existing features while introducing new ones. The rebranding event is divided across four Eras of Development, which is the quarterly timeline for when these features will be released.

The First Era (April 2024 - July 2024)

The First Era will introduce innovative features, improved UI/UX, and a new marketing campaign.

AI Agents Marketplace

Users can develop AI agents that can solve specific tasks, to lease them out on a per-use basis. An example is a video editor building an AI Agent to automatically edit videos by training them to do so. AI Agents will provide a source of passive income for their creators.

In-game Items Marketplace

Hyve will leverage its multi-chain infrastructure to tap into the world of GameFi. It plans to build a marketplace for in-game items and collectibles where users can sell or purchase them using their preferred payment option.

Promotional Campaign

Hyve will be promoted through brand ambassadorship and influencers, both in the web2 and web3 space, while also actively participating in crypto-related events, establishing more partnerships and infrastructure integrations.

The Second Era (August 2024 - November 2024)

This era will focus on a revamped tokenomics structure, user engagement, optimized job discovery, and community interaction.

Quest/External Jobs/Raffles

This feature introduces new forms of tasks that can be carried out on the Hyve platform. From executing tasks posted by blockchains and other decentralized applications to earn rewards or airdrops, to aggregating job listings, or organizing raffles to boost community interaction.

Rebranding and Updated Tokenomics

Hyve is planning to change its name and upgrade its token utility. More details will be revealed as the second era approaches.

In-app Swap

Users can swap their earned tokens for USDT or any other cryptocurrency without leaving the Hyve platform.

Daily Tasks

This feature aims to build community engagement and reward the Hyve community via a gamified experience. Tasks will include posting related content on social media or inviting friends to join the platform.

The Third Era Roadmap (December 2024 - March 2025)

This era is focused on improving the process of hiring freelancers, and how they interact with employers.

Liquid Talent Pools

This adds a flexible approach to work for freelancers, specially designed for software developers, to sell blocks of their time, such as hours of coding, directly to companies or individuals who require immediate service. This would also come with a peer-reviewed form of accreditation—reviewers will be experienced platform users who are already accredited in the skill they are assessing.

Company Directory & Company Pages

This is a comprehensive listing of companies and organizations that engage with the Hyve platform. Freelancers can pursue information about their potential employers, with interactive features such as direct messaging and project proposals.

Improved Staking Mechanism

The new staking mechanism will grant stakers roles as either arbitrators or reviewers. Arbitrators will resolve disputes within their field of expertise and will be incentivized for fair and accurate resolutions, while Reviewers will evaluate the skill level of freelancers joining Hyve.

Note: The Fourth Era is yet to be announced.

What is HYVE Token?

The HYVE token is an ERC-777 standard token compatible with tokens and contracts supporting the ERC-20 standard. As an ERC-777 token, it can be updated to support new standards and add new functionalities.

Token Utility

On the Hyve Platform, HYVE token has four use cases, discussed below:

Governance

Through the Hyve Improvement Proposal, token holders can participate in decision-making processes about the platform’s future. To vote, a user stakes any amount of tokens in a voting smart contract, which gives them voting power for various proposals. They can assign as many tokens as they want to a proposal as long as they are staked in the contract.

To be implemented, a proposal needs a specific percentage of the total circulating tokens. Users can withdraw their tokens from the voting contract anytime, reducing their voting power for all active proposals they have voted on. They can also delegate their votes to other users or a smart contract.

Fees

The Hyve Platform charges 0.5% of the listing value, for tasks valued in Ethereum or any ERC-20 token, and 0.25% for tasks valued in HYVE tokens.

Staking

Users can stake their tokens to earn rewards from the fees generated from listing tasks. They can stake their tokens by locking them at the start of each month, or they can choose to lock their tokens for multiple months in advance. 50% of the Fees collected during the month will be allocated to stakers and claimable during the next locking period, i.e., the start of the next month.

Community Vault

The community vault gets the other 50% of the total fees earned, it is an exclusive feature for token holders, as they get to bid on any of the assets in the vault at any time and swap their HYVE tokens for the asset. When HYVE tokens are swapped, half are permanently burned to reduce the total supply and increase scarcity. The other half goes to the treasury, which covers the file storage costs on IPFS. The treasury also contributes to the ecosystem’s development by awarding community grants to worthy proposals.

Project Tokenomics

The HYVE token has a circulating supply of 25,646,075 HYVE out of a total supply of 99,207,917 HYVE as of the time of writing, (June, 2024).

Note: According to the project’s roadmap, an updated tokenomics plan is being developed.

Is Hyve (HYVE) a Good Investment?

Hyve is an innovative project with a clear roadmap that outlines its future direction. As a decentralized freelance platform, Hyve has the potential to easily dominate the Web3 freelancing space. Outside Web3, it could face stiff competition from centralized platforms like Upwork and Fiverr. With a rebranding in the works, it has the potential to become a leading hub for freelance gigs in the coming year.

Investors are encouraged to research and evaluate their risk tolerance before investing in any web3 project or cryptocurrency because of the risk involved. Additionally, investors should consider the cryptocurrency market’s volatility and potential regulatory changes.

Note: Investing in HYVE or any other crypto project does not guarantee profit and could result in capital loss.

How to Own HYVE?

To own HYVE, you can use the services of a centralized crypto exchange. Start by creating a Gate.io account and get it verified and funded. Then, you are ready to go through the steps to buy HYVE.

News on Hyve

HYVE Announces Third Era of Roadmap

HYVE released the third part of its roadmap, branded “The Third Era” on April 19, 2024. This section of the roadmap is scheduled to be executed from December 2024 to March 2025. The Third Era will focus on developing Liquid Talent Pools, Incentive-Staking, Talent Accreditation, and Company Directories.

New Chain Integration

HYVE announced blockchain integration with Base via a blog post on April 16, 2024. This is a testament to the expansion of its cross-chain infrastructure. The Base chain is a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum.

Take Action on HYVE

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• HYVE/USDT