Just a couple of small insights into HBD spending on goods and services. As usual, this is data I gather from @hivesql, where I count and sum HBD transfers but exclude dust payments, exchange transfers and delegation payments. I run a manual check to verify that the remaining data represents actual purchases of goods and services. This is only viable because of the 'social proof' nature of Hive.
Insight 1: HBD spending still growing
More transfers are being made with HBD and the value of those transfers is higher than normal recently.
Insight 2: Spending in 2025 to Exceed Spending in 2024
The Year Aligned sum of HBD spending in 2025 is about to overtake that of 2024.
In both 2024 and 2025, spending got off to a good start, yet eventually dropped off and fell below the previous year. To date, 2023 is still the leader in the summed value of HBD spending. However, where in late 2024 spending tapered off, it is rising again towards the end of 2025. If spending continues at the same rate as the last 3 months, full year spending in 2025 will exceed 2023 but still fall slightly short of 2023.
I think a lot of that spending probably goes into the purchase of Hive since it is ridiculously cheap right now
No, this filters out things like buying Hive.