Today marks a momentous occasion as we celebrate the 8th birthday of our beloved blockchain.

This announcement might sound late or strange to some because many of us just celebrated the fourth “anniversary” of the Hive on March 20th. But in fact, that date corresponds to the Hive "Forkday" as @arcange named it in his recent post, i.e. the day our community forked away from the now centralized and censored Steem blockchain.

As we revel in Hive's 8th birthday, it's imperative to remember our origins and how we've grown. Each line of code, each user interaction, and each community-led project has actively shaped the robust platform that Hive is today.

While consensus dictates that some infamous name shall never be said anymore, acknowledging our origins and remembering our history remains an essential homage to our journey.

When it all started

On March 24th, 2016, 8 years ago, Steemit Inc. launched a revolutionary new blockchain that combined technical, financial, and social concepts. The first block was signed on 2016-03-24 16:05:00 UTC, and within minutes the first accounts were created.

A mere six days following the genesis block, on 2016-03-30 18:30:18 UTC, the blockchain recorded its very first post. For sure it's not the best post in terms of quality content, but it paved the way for our content-sharing and social adventure.

July 2016 was the beginning of a "massive" arrival of new users following the first payouts. That's when people realized that they could actually monetize their content.

For nearly four years, passionate individuals, developers, bloggers, and investors alike enlisted in this grand adventure.

You can't buy a community!

We were then confronted with our greatest hurdle: a hostile takeover attempt maneuvered by Justin Sun, with the help of exchanges, including Binance. This ordeal brought about censorship and the theft of our members' assets.

Yet, our community rallied with unwavering determination to protect the principles we hold dear. This culminated in the decision to separate ourselves from this rotten entity and take control of our destiny by forking the steem blockchain.

8 Years Of History - 4 Years Of Freedom and Innovation

Most of the major projects that had previously been initiated on steem left the ship to join Hive and continue to operate safely.

The old blockchain has not seen any major changes while Hive has continued on its own path with many new features, continuous improvements and innovation over the years.

This commitment to innovation and growth is what sets Hive apart from other blockchain platforms and is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our community. This growth has been fueled by the success of many applications and projects like @splinterlands, @leofinance, @peakd, @ecency, @threespeak, @dbuzz, @liketu, @psyberx, @crypto-shots.com, @actifit, @waivio, @muterra, @wrestorgonline, @hashkings, ... to name a few of them.

Happy Birthday Hive!

It is this long history of 8 years and all that we have achieved that we want to celebrate with you today. Among us remain the original vanguards and diehards, steadfast in their commitment to Hive, whose loyalty and accumulated wisdom continue to enrich our community today.

It is therefore in tribute to them and with pride that we celebrate the 8th anniversary of our decentralized blockchain.

If you registered your account on the Hive blockchain 8 years ago, you will automatically receive this badge from @HiveBuzz. You can proudly reuse it in your post to show your fellow Hivers you are a Hive Veteran.

For those who joined us recently, you will have to be patient. But do not worry, on each of your anniversary of your sign-up on the blockchain, you will also receive a nice badge.

We wish you a Happy 8th Hive Birthday!

The Hivebuzz Team

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_{HiveBuzz is a project created by @arcange}