The Hive

The Hive, also known as Hive AI or Ask The Hive, is the Solana project behind the BUZZ token. It now trades as Apys. The old askthehive.ai address redirects to apys.co, and the same company, Hive Labs Technologies, Inc., runs it. This is not HIVE Digital Technologies, the listed bitcoin miner with a "BUZZ" computing arm, and it is not the Hive blockchain.

Apys is a savings app. You deposit USDC, it lends that USDC on Solana lending markets, and you can take the interest as dollars or as tokenized stock such as NVDAx. The Hive began in late 2024 as an AI chat assistant for Solana DeFi and won the Solana AI Hackathon in January 2025.

How Apys works: USDC interest paid in tokenized stocks

Apys lends your USDC to borrowers on Solana and lets you spend the interest on stock tokens. Your deposit stays in the lending markets the whole time. Only the interest is ever swapped. The Apys docs describe three steps: pick an amount, review the plan Apys builds, and sign once in your wallet.

The plan splits your USDC across pools on three lending markets: Kamino Finance KMNO$0.040+3.0%, Jupiter JUP$0.294+2.9% Lend and Loopscale. Apys says it compares pools on the rate, the risk and how easily you can get your money out. The sample plan in the docs splits one deposit four ways. Most of it goes to two Kamino pools, and the rest to Loopscale and Jupiter Lend.

Apys gave a worked example on X in late September 2026. Deposit $1,000 at a variable rate near 7% a year, and you earn about $10 of interest in under two months. You could then claim that interest as NVDAx and leave the deposit where it is. The rate moves with borrowing demand, so treat the figure as an illustration.

Apys says it imposes no lockup. You can withdraw through Apys or go straight to the lending market's own site.

Which stocks can you earn on Apys?

Apys pays interest in four tokenized stocks as of October 2026: NVDAx (Nvidia), AAPLx (Apple), SPCX (SpaceX) and MSTR (Strategy). A tokenized stock is a crypto token built to track the price of a share. You hold it in your own wallet like any other Solana token.

The tokens come from two issuers, xStocks AAPLx$344.44+0.5% and Backpack, according to the Apys docs. Apys does not issue them. It swaps your interest for them through Jupiter. The feature launched on 11 September 2026 under the name "stock-paying savings", per the Apys blog, which says more assets are planned.

You do not have to take stock. The FAQ says interest builds up in USDC and can be withdrawn as USDC unless you choose to convert it. For context on how fast this market has grown on Solana, see our report on xStocks passing $6 billion in trading volume.

Apys fees, minimum deposit and rewards

Apys charges no platform fee as of October 2026, and the minimum deposit is $10. The Apys FAQ lists no management, performance or withdrawal fees, and says users will get notice if that changes. The terms of service reserve the right to add fees later.

Other costs are less clear. The FAQ says you pay Solana network fees and a Jupiter swap fee of up to 0.3% when interest is converted. It also mentions a small SOL cost when a lending market needs a new account opened. The launch blog post says Apys covers your transaction fees and the one-time cost of opening a token account. The two pages do not fully agree, so check the transaction preview before you sign.

Apys also runs a cash reward. Keep at least $500 deposited for three weeks in a row and you earn $50 in USDC, per the rewards page. Referrals add a little more. Apys calls the programme temporary and reviews claims by hand before paying. It involves no token and no points.

Is Apys safe? Custody, audits and risks

Apys never holds your money, but your deposit carries the full risk of the lending markets it sits in. Apys is non-custodial, which means you keep your own keys and nothing moves without your signature. It also has no smart contract of its own. It builds ordinary Solana transactions that send funds from your wallet directly into the lending markets.

That design cuts both ways. Apys adds no extra contract that could be hacked, and there is no Apys program on Solana with an upgrade key to worry about. If the Apys website went offline, your USDC would still sit in Kamino, Jupiter Lend or Loopscale, and you could withdraw from those sites directly. The other side is stated in the Apys post on why it has no smart contract: no auditor has reviewed Apys itself, because there is no on-chain code to review. You rely on the audits of the three lending markets and on the Apys website building honest transactions. Read what you sign.

The lending markets have their own history. Apys's protocol notes say Loopscale lost about $5.8 million to a price-feed exploit in April 2025 and that the funds were recovered within 48 hours. The risks page lists more:

• Rates are variable and are not guaranteed.
• Withdrawals can be delayed when most of a pool is lent out.
• USDC could lose its dollar peg.
• A stock token can fall in price after your interest buys it.
• A stock token can drift from the real share price when markets are closed. Apys says it blocks a conversion if the token trades more than 3% above its underlying value.
• Stock tokens depend on their issuers, and direct redemption is subject to eligibility rules.

Deposits are not insured. The terms tell users to deposit only what they can afford to lose. They also say the plans are fixed outputs of the inputs you give, and are not investment advice.

Who Apys suits, and who it does not

Apys suits a person who already holds USDC in a Solana wallet, wants lending interest without choosing pools by hand, and likes the idea of slowly building a small stock position from that interest. It asks for little effort after the first signature.

The stock side grows slowly. At the rate in Apys's own example, $1,000 earns about $10 of stock in two months. If you want real exposure to Nvidia or Apple now, buying the token directly is the faster route. Apys also only helps if you have USDC to park in the first place.

Access is limited by location. The FAQ says Apys is meant for users in places where DeFi protocols are not restricted, and the terms bar sanctioned regions. Tokenized stocks carry their own eligibility limits set by the issuers, so check those before you plan around stock payouts.

Apys alternatives: lending USDC directly

The plain alternative is to do each step yourself. You can deposit USDC straight into Kamino, Jupiter Lend or Loopscale, then buy a tokenized stock on Jupiter with the interest whenever you like. You pick the pool, and you depend on one fewer website.

What Apys adds is the routing and the habit. It spreads one deposit across several pools in a single signature and turns the interest into stock for you. It adds no contract risk beyond the markets you would use anyway, and it charges no fee as of October 2026. You do take on trust in its pool selection and its transaction builder. Apys also notes that its more aggressive plans put funds into fewer pools to chase a higher rate, which concentrates risk.

BUZZ token: what Hive AI's coin is now

BUZZ (Hive AI) is a memecoin with no role in Apys. The Apys FAQ calls it a memecoin, or community token, from the early days of Hive Labs. The terms of service go further. They say BUZZ gives holders no returns, no dividends, no share of profit and no vote.

The FAQ adds that holding BUZZ is not an investment in Hive Labs or its products. Many exchange and price-tracker pages still call BUZZ a utility or governance token for a network of AI agents. That wording dates from early 2025. It conflicts with the company's own documents.

Nothing in the Apys docs gives BUZZ holders a fee share or access to any feature. The Apys rewards programme pays in USDC.

From The Hive's AI agents to Apys: history and team

The Hive started as an AI chat tool for Solana DeFi. Users typed what they wanted in plain English. A set of AI agents then did the swaps, staking and price checks.

The project won the Solana AI Hackathon on 16 January 2025. Organiser SendAI named The Hive first among more than 400 entries, TechFlow reported.

The product then narrowed. By mid-2026 Hive Labs offered a tool that matched users to Solana lending pools. Its July 2026 post on how it picks markets already used the Apys name. Stock-paying savings followed in September 2026. Apys said on X that it entered Solana's Stocklana hackathon later that month.

The old agent code is still public on GitHub. The page describes it as a "multi-agent DeFi swarm for Solana research and execution." The code was first posted under developer Jason Hedman's account. It now sits under the ask-the-hive group account.

The company behind Apys is Hive Labs Technologies, Inc. Its terms fall under Delaware law. Recent Apys blog posts are signed by Stepan Nilov and Moshe Levi. Apys has no team page, and we found no news of a funding round.