Seeing the topic the obvious response should be 'well duh' as if it wasn't so obvious already. I want to add a bit more extra in my article by highlighting the possible consequences of staking and how dynamic our stake may evolve in the medium-long term.

I like to define stake as having 'significant skin in the game'. For us here on Hive, our first major primary stake is of course Hive Power - locking up Hive earnings in a form that prevents immediate liquidation. In our case, it is 13 weeks for a full return to liquid state. Some of it is (thankfully) involuntary and comes as part of reward payouts, but this is subject to the value of Hive at any given time.

Of course there are other ways to show 'skin in the game' beyond Hive power though. Other tokens have their rewards for instance, and each has unique ways where one can be fully vested. There is also stake acquired by reputation/influence, which is from acquiring a fair bit of trust from the community based on one's previous works.

That said, I still believe the best for of stake is holding onto significant token assets rather than selling for immediate returns. This is because this kind of stake not only expands your reputation within the community, but directly affects one's overall sphere of control or influence.

I was reading about an exchange that had about 75 Million Hive in their wallet (about 20% of total Hive in circulation). The figure is staggering and quite mind blowing, so good thing it is an exchange. But just imagine if it were an individual, we'd literally be at the mercies of such an individuals whim.

While not perfect, I believe the distribution system on Hive is better than we have in many conventional systems and even within the cryptosphere. There are tons of ways Hive can be purchased/earned so it is left to us to make judicious use of our earnings. Deciding to stake should become more voluntary if we want to have more of a say in the decision making and governance part of the chain.

But beyond Governance, there are several incentives to staking our assets which have not been fully explored. The way the Hive chain is evolving, we may get to a point in the future where blogging takes a back seat, as has been discussed in the past. What would remain consistent though is the weight of our stake in the chain which would enable us pull through any path.

Conclusion

The more everyone chooses to stake, I believe the better this place would perform in terms of reach and governance. One is not oblivious to the temptations or sudden necessities that may warrant liquidations, but I believe it is a necessary food for thought.