What are Hive-backed Dollars? Hive-backed dollars (HBD) are a unique type of trustless stablecoin that is backed by the underlying value of the Hive blockchain itself and pegged to the USD. This backing takes the form of an onchain conversion operation that lets HBD be converted to an equivalent USD value of Hive itself. For example, 10 HBD can be converted into $10 USD worth of HIVE. This HBD to HIVE conversion mechanism has effectively pegged the value of 1 HBD at or over the value of $1 USD. HBD stored in a Hive savings account earns a variable interest rate (current interest rate set based on the median vote of block producers).What is Hive? Launched on March 20th, 2020, Hive is a decentralized information sharing network with an accompanying blockchain-based financial ledger built on the Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) protocol. Hive supports many different types of information sharing applications. Myriad dapps, APIs and front-ends contribute to a general and straightforward accessibility of data, transactions and records, so that this existing diversity and utility ensure that the ecosystem is welcoming to content creators, consumers, investors and builders.Hive is developed to store vast amounts of content and to make it available for time-based monetization. Examples of use include social media with monetized rewards for content producers, interactive games, identity management, polling systems, and micro-loans. The performance of the blockchain is designed to scale with widespread adoption of the currency and platforms in mind. By combining the lightning fast processing times and fee-less transactions, Hive is positioned to become one of the leading blockchain technologies used by people around the world.Hive technology and scalability Hive’s support for high transaction volumes, combined with its fast 3-second block times and fee-less transactions, make it an ideal platform for building highly interactive applications that would bog down on most blockchain networks. It also has a unique focus on a 2nd layer architecture for distributing application loading across distinct sidechains to enable scaling beyond the limits of traditional smart-contract networks. To mitigate scaling limitations, an application’s proponents can allocate additional CPU resources as needed at the second layer to power their preferred applications, without worrying about congestion from other apps in the network, yet still benefit from a common first-layer blockchain backbone to ensure distributed data integrity. This scaling ability also enables a unique competitive landscape for applications developers.Hive governance and software development Hive was founded by a diverse group of community members, developers and investors who believed in the common goal of decentralization. There is no set team and no company behind it. Hive is not based in any specific jurisdiction and has nodes, stakeholders and contributors in many countries all over the globe. Hive relies on decentralized governance, both for software development and for decisions about protocol upgrades, employing the DPOS consensus protocol. Stake-weighted voting is used to elect block producers known as witnesses that must agree to enable changes to the 1st layer protocol shared by all applications, providing a stable base layer, while leaving 2nd layer applications free to innovate rapidly. All protocol changes are proposed, developed, prepared for and implemented through a transparent and collaborative team-working environment. They are entirely open source from initiation to their final release.