Introduction:

The Hive blockchain recently executed its 28th Hard Fork, marking a significant milestone in its continuous development.

Not the traditional hard fork...

• Unlike the initial hard fork that created Hive itself (when it split from Steem in 2020), these routine hard forks are non-controversial, mandatory software upgrades aimed at improving the network's performance, stability, and feature set.

🛠️ Background: What a Hard Fork Means for Hive

A Hard Fork on Hive is a pre-scheduled, agreed-upon fundamental upgrade.

• It is a non-backward-compatible change, meaning all nodes (servers) running the blockchain must update to the new version to continue participating.
• No new coin is created in these routine upgrades. Instead, it ensures the entire community moves forward together onto a better, faster, and more feature-rich version of the existing blockchain.

Here are the key details and features of the latest Hive Hard Fork:

📅 Hard Fork 28: Date & Focus

• Execution Date: The latest major upgrade, Hard Fork 28, was announced and executed around November 19, 2025 (based on the search result timestamps).
• Focus: The focus of HF28 is on technological innovation, comprehensive expansion, and increasing user engagement—moving beyond stabilization to actively enhance core functionality for future growth.

⚙️ Key New Features and Changes in HF28

The upgrade introduces several technical and feature-based enhancements:

Feature	Detail & Value Proposition
New "Light Accounts"	A novel entry point that allows users to create accounts and start engaging (posting, commenting, voting) immediately using social media credentials (like Google, Twitter, or Discord). This dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for newcomers.
Revised Voting Algorithm	The updated algorithm aims to create a more equitable environment by adjusting how rewards are distributed. This promotes fairness and strengthens incentives for all active participants (creators, curators, and delegators).
Infrastructure Upgrades	Mandatory upgrades to core systems like the Hive Application Framework (HAF) and Hivemind servers. These changes result in:

* Faster data synchronization.
* Improved search capabilities.
* More precise transaction visibility. |

| Performance & Efficiency | The technical enhancements bolster Hive's core architecture for better stability and security, which is essential to support future scaling efforts and ensure new features can be integrated seamlessly. |

In short, HF28 focuses on making Hive easier to join, fairer to use, and technically more robust for the dApps (like InLeo) that run on it.

What about Hive-Engine?

The changes on Hive's second layer, Hive Engine, focus on enhancing its core function as a smart contracts side-chain and decentralized exchange (DEX).

Hive Engine

Hive Engine is the platform that enables communities and developers to easily create custom tokens and complex dApps on Hive.

The primary updates and developments center on deepening the platform's smart contract capabilities and interoperability:

1. Enhanced Smart Contract Capabilities

Hive Engine's continuous development focuses on making the second layer a robust platform for dApps:

Custom Token Features:

While Hive Engine already allows for the easy creation of custom tokens (like LEO, POB, NEUXAG, etc.), updates focus on advanced token management features, including sophisticated controls for staking, delegation, and transfer logic.

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs):

Tools like HoneyComb are built on Hive Engine, facilitating the creation and management of DAOs within the Hive ecosystem (for projects like DLUX and the SPK Claim Chain).

VSC (Virtual Smart Contracts):

The platform utilizes systems that allow for decentralized, full-featured smart contracts where the code and state are anchored on-chain by validators, ensuring synchronization across the network.

2. Marketplace & Exchange Functionality

Hive Engine powers the decentralized exchange, LeoDex, which is constantly being improved for seamless trading:

Simplified Cross-Chain Swaps:

The exchange integrates with other decentralized protocols to simplify trading across multiple blockchains. This allows users to pay for services (like the InLeo Premium subscription) using various cryptocurrencies, with the exchange handling the complex cross-chain swap in the background.

Dedicated Marketplaces:

The goal is to continuously enhance the marketplace for trading the Hive Engine tokens against HIVE and HBD, making the DEX more user-friendly and competitive with other exchanges.

3. Layer 2 Ecosystem Growth

Hive Engine's changes are driven by the growth of the overall Layer 2 ecosystem, which includes:

NFT Creation & Management:

Hive Engine provides the fundamental smart contracts for creating, transferring, staking, and delegating Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), powering various NFT marketplaces on Hive.

Powering DApps:

The sidechain continues to serve as the infrastructure for the most popular dApps on Hive, integrating new technical standards to ensure they run efficiently and can easily interact with the Hive blockchain data.

In summary:

Hive Engine's changes are about solidifying its role as the flexible, easy-to-use smart contract layer that turns the general-purpose Hive blockchain into a hub for custom tokens, NFTs, and community-driven decentralized applications.

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