If you are here for the artwork, well, I just showed you. Later in a GIF form, I will also show you its process. Today, this artwork is a bit special, like all of my artworks that hold philosophical meanings.
A Saying That Stayed With Me
Recently, I liked something a friend told me and I want to share it with you too.
“In Chinese, we have a saying: if you eat a lot of salt, be prepared to be thirsty.”
“Or as the Western saying goes: if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
This message stayed with me forever, and I am writing it on-chain so I will remember it again.
There is no direct way to connect this quote to the rest of the blog, but that is okay.
Just like the artwork Lines, today’s blog will also talk about many things, just as I had no fixed thoughts while drawing it.
When Simple Things Turn Complex
It all starts with something simple.
You get a DM on Discord, or you comment on a blog, or someone comments on yours, and then friendships start forming. You can call it the butterfly effect. You start admiring someone and then, one day, the guy rug-pulls you.
For me, the rug-pull was not recent. I was working in project management, and as a manager, I also analyze the risk of our investments. It was on 21st August when I noticed that some funds were missing which should have been used for LGN dividends (Raymond’s other project).
I asked some Hivers and learned that for some reason, LGN dividends were halved. I learned about the missing funds. Yes, I had these nostalgic thoughts when making the artwork Lines.
Did Raymond move LGN dividend money to personal funds? Were the dividends halved? Was that a red flag? When you tell others, they ignore you and call you a lunatic.
My point is that rug-pulls are not done in a single day. Suddenly taking 10% beneficiary rewards was already a sign.
The Red Flags in Tokenomics
On another post’s comment section, I asked a question about the changes in the whitepaper. If you know me, I study whitepapers very carefully as I make them too. That is when I learned that those investors who do not chat in Discord and hold BRO tokens will get half the dividends they used to receive (slowly reduced over time period of 50 months).
It would keep decreasing if they did not chat and earn “presoul” for chatting. Or they could make posts (with 10% cut given) and earn presoul to get the same dividends.
As a tokenomics guy, that was another red flag.
Why would investors want to invest in a project that forces them to chat in Discord or blog to keep earning the dividends they deserve for holding their tokens?
Before I write further, let me show you the artwork creation process if u came here for artwork.
What’s the Current Situation
BRO (investment token), LGN (investment token that failed to fulfill its promises for a long time), and GIFU (a memecoin people speculated on) are now dust.
And then there is the list of unpaid loans.
Thoughts on Trust and Culture
The question remains. In crypto, we give our money to people when we invest in something. But I am not sure about the rest of the world. In Pakistan, people are less likely to be in loans and seek investments. If you take a personal loan, you are considered broke and people hesitate to invest in you.
Maybe it is just a difference in cultures, but I prefer to invest in people who are financially stable and keep business and friendship separate.
Some people did not like me for that since I did not mix personal favors with professional work. It is the same for DMs asking for upvotes. I do not let people DM me for that. At most, I will comment on their blog or reblog, but I usually skip DM requests (for upvotes) unless I already told them to remind me.
I am not too strict about it. I may slip sometimes because I am human, but these are still good practices to follow.
Be Careful What You Say
Hive is filled with people who have wrong intentions (not saying it's also not filled with people with good intentions). We may feel close to someone and share sensitive information with them, on-chain or off-chain, but sometimes that can become problematic.
So, it is better to talk less. I am practicing that.
People misinterpret words, crop parts of conversations, or remove the context completely. Sometimes, the full meaning is understood only when we know the entire relationship history between people.
For example, if someone says “F*** THEKITTYGIRL” (Hey, you are the sweetest person, I used your name only as an example. If I used someone else, they might think I actually said it), it means nothing without context.
Hive life is very complex, just like real life. Texts have no feelings.
And for someone like me, using translators is not fun when translators are OOF. Simple things can be misinterpreted easily, and it has happened to me many times.
So be careful what you say, who you say it to, and be aware that this world is full of people with hidden motives. Some may look kind and close to you, but people eventually show their true colors.
A Bit About Panda Token
Recently, the BRO token rug-pulled but the Panda token took very little damage, almost none.
Just like how curation projects give 80% returns, Panda gives 70% in liquid Hive plus tokens. So, you are already getting 70% back weekly for delegating.
I will not go deep into the model, but the point is that https://panda-x.io/ avoids risky investments like the BRO token.
The principal amount remains safe, and during this rug-pull, that has been proven.
Its model is slower but more secure.
The 70% weekly Hive for delegation was already risk-minimized, and powering up HP to delegate and mint BRO ensured that the principal stayed protected.
Dividends once a month may seem small, but sometimes slow and small is better than fast and big (oopsie).
Final Thoughts
What else do I want to say? Maybe do not share too much.
Maybe be careful around others.
Or maybe just remember that text means nothing without context.
Rome was not built in a day, just like this artwork and this blog.
One last thing. I believe in God. Anyone with bad intentions can fool me, but not God. When you try underhanded tricks, you are fooling yourself, not Him. For me, this world is temporary and there is life after it.
Please do not end up on someone’s naughty list. When they pray against you, that bad luck might burn you instead.
Am I sounding like Raymond? Maybe.
Maybe I meant it.
Maybe today, I just wanted to be as simple yet as complex as my artwork Lines.
And with that, the tribute of this blog to my artwork ends here.
Happy Hive Halloween! 🎃
