The Importance of HP APR and Curation Awards in a longterm HP Stacking Strategy

I often think that HP APR (~3% APR) and to a lesser extent HP curation rewards (~8% APR) can get overlooked say compared to the HBD APR of 20%.

I've been tracking my weekly HP gains for close to 2 years now on Hive. I can remember that the HP APR rewards didnt really register with me when I started out. I have however quite consciously curated throughout my time here on Hive, because I think its quite essential, although I have been aware for a long time that my upvote probably does not award that much value.

However, over time, I have noticed a fairly dramatic change:

• The table above shows my HP status roughly at the start of the last 8 quarters,
• It shows total HP, HP undelegated (in other words, the amount of HP providing curation power), the weekly income from HP APR and curation, and then combined, including as a percentage of my average weekly HP income (which over that time period was around 89.95 HP per week)

A couple of things stand out for me:

• Early on, the income from both APR and curation was hardly noticeable, especially noting that I also had a large percentage of my HP delegated out at the time, hence my curation rewards didnt amount to much either,
• I then started to physically notice the difference each week towards the end of 2023, around say October, and there you can see that the income from both was growing and getting close to making up 10% of my average weekly gains,
• However, now that time has marched on and my HP total and undelegated total has increased, you can see that these are now contributing a decent proportion (~17%) of my weekly income,
• And, if you simply look along the bottom line (yellow), you can see a clear generally increasing trend. That is also in part due to the fact that I actively manage my HP and delegations, so that my total HP and total undelegated amount are increasing each week (that is, I dont just go crazy and delegate HP all over the place or spend all of my post rewards on games, other tokens, etc).
  

The graph above shows this visually - the blue line is slowly creeping up. Now I know its a very gradual increase, however, when you consider that my weekly income from posting has probably plateaued, for me its important to note my APR and curation income will continue to increase, and at some point will be greater than my average weekly income from posting and other sources. Its also important to note that it has no limit, it will continue to grow as my HP grows, although my income from posting alone is unlikely to grow much or at all above my current average.

That is quite significant to me, as to some extent I see that as passive income (I know the curation part isnt, but it sort of feels like it, even noting that the majority of my curation is manual).

Although the HBD 20% APR is attractive, I have to say that the pull to HP income is greater for me. Due to the low price of HIVE, its a great time to stack HP, which is what I've been trying to do, and I'm now at that point where that added component from APR and curation is making a noticeable difference on a weekly basis.

You could argue that HBD is better, but for me, while the price of HIVE is low, I'll keep my stack as HP. If the price of HIVE grows (>$1) then I can consider cashing it in for HBD in order to take advantage of the exchange rate, and then the HBD APR.

There is also the added bonus that I do like being able to provide better upvotes to the posts I like on Hive. I think its a very important part of the community aspect. Receiving upvotes from everyone else has got me to where I am, and I fell its important to be a part of that in return.

In conclusion:

• I think HP APR and curation rewards should not be ignored as part of a long term HP stacking strategy,
• Even at outset, they are important and add up over time,
• As part of that strategy it is important to manage your stacking so that both your HP total and total of undelegated HP are increasing weekly to make sure that these income amounts are on the whole increasing weekly. I manage this in two ways:
  1 - By making sure my focus is on increasing HP each week (regular posting, and controlling how much I spend of any weekly income on other items such as games and other tokens, so that I dont just blow it all),
  2 - Making sure that each week I only delegate out a maximum of 20% of the HP I earn each week.

This analysis has given me the incentive to keep on stacking HP (probably even more so than I have been in the past), as I can now see the advantage that it is bringing. Especially noting the issue with a number of layer-2 tokens failing of late, its also making me think more about HP (and HBD) in general as my core focus. I do still like a number of other tokens - LEO, EDS, DRIP, PWR, DAB, DBOND and the like, but in the near term I'm less likely to take wholesale lumps of HIVE/HP and buy layer-2 tokens. Instead I'll just divert small percentages here and there, with the focus being on increasing HP and letting those 'passive' rewards roll in, compound and add up. Ch-ching !

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