Hive was down to 10c for a long time, things could've easily changed. It's existed for 5 years now and so many who were minnows and just earned their way to orca or whale level so far. Obviously a new token coming out depending on its distribution will change things around but I wouldn't really say Hive distribution is bad or that it's just the same whales in control of everything and if they are then that's their power they decided to hold or grow.

Anyway I'm not against L2 at all, hopefully there's some better alternatives down the line than having to pay 1% fee both ways.