Why Are People Excited About Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR)?

Introduction & Origin Story

Hedera Hashgraph was launched in 2018 by Dr. Leemon Baird and Mance Harmon, co-founders of Swirlds Inc. Unlike traditional blockchains, Hedera uses a unique consensus mechanism called the Hashgraph algorithm—a directed acyclic graph (DAG)—that promises faster, fairer, and more secure transactions.

Hedera is governed by the Hedera Governing Council, which includes a rotating group of major global organizations such as Google, IBM, Boeing, Deutsche Telekom, and others. This council structure was designed to balance decentralization with stability.

Core Use Case & Real-World Application

Hedera positions itself as a public enterprise-grade network built for decentralized applications (dApps) and microservices. Its use cases span:
- Tokenization of assets
- Decentralized identity (DID)
- Supply chain tracking
- Carbon credit verification
- NFTs and digital ownership
- High-speed, low-cost micropayments

With throughput of 10,000+ transactions per second, finality within seconds, and extremely low fees, Hedera is ideal for both enterprise and consumer-grade apps.

Who Benefits From Mass Adoption?

- Enterprises seeking scalable and regulatory-compliant dApp infrastructure
- Governments needing fast, secure digital ID and record systems
- Developers building real-time, high-performance applications
- Consumers benefiting from fair fees, data privacy, and high-speed interactions
- Environmental projects using Hedera’s immutable logging for carbon offsets and ESG metrics

Potential Drawbacks & Competition

- Not technically a blockchain: Some crypto purists are skeptical of its DAG-based Hashgraph consensus.
- Governance model: The Governing Council is composed of large corporations, raising questions about decentralization.
- Smart contract limitations: While improving, its smart contract capabilities lag behind Ethereum and Solana.
- Competition:
  - Solana – Fast and low-cost smart contract platform
  - Avalanche – Offers subnets and high throughput
  - Algorand – Enterprise-focused blockchain with low fees
  - Polygon (MATIC) – Ethereum scaling with wide adoption

Community & Ecosystem

While not as meme-driven as others, HBAR has a dedicated developer and enterprise user base. Notable dApps and projects include:
- Dropp – a micropayment system
- Avery Dennison – supply chain transparency
- ServiceNow – verifying workflow records on-chain
- NFT platforms like HashAxis and TurtleMoon

Its ecosystem is growing steadily, supported by the HBAR Foundation, which funds development and community growth through grants and partnerships.

Tokenomics & Governance

- Max Supply: 50 billion HBAR
- Circulating Supply: ~35 billion (as of early 2025)
- Token Release Schedule: Gradual distribution over 15 years
- Staking: HBAR holders can stake to network nodes and earn rewards
- Governance: Hedera Governing Council (39 term-limited members)
- Each council member operates a node and votes on network decisions

This hybrid model provides predictability, legal compliance, and real-world accountability, but raises concerns among decentralization advocates.

White Paper Reference

You can find Hedera’s white paper and technical documentation at:
https://hedera.com/papers

How to Read and Analyze Its White Paper

Hedera is a DAG-based public network, not a blockchain. Focus on these elements:
- Hashgraph Consensus: Understand the “gossip about gossip” protocol and virtual voting, which allows fast, asynchronous consensus with Byzantine fault tolerance.
- Public vs. Permissioned Infrastructure: Hedera offers a hybrid approach with a permissioned governance model but a public network.
- Performance Metrics: TPS, finality time, bandwidth requirements, and energy efficiency
- Security Assumptions: Look for cryptographic validation and resistance to Sybil attacks
- Smart Contract Layer: Based on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), but deployed differently—note gas fees, tooling, and compatibility.

Everyday Summary of the White Paper

At its core, Hedera is a super-efficient public ledger that allows users and businesses to exchange value or store data quickly, securely, and cheaply.

Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, Hedera doesn’t rely on miners or validators competing for block rewards. Instead, every transaction is timestamped and agreed upon using a virtual voting algorithm in which no one can game the system or go offline without being detected.

The system is fast (10,000+ TPS), eco-friendly, and built for compliance, making it attractive for large-scale and regulated industries.

Final Thoughts

People are excited about HBAR because it represents a new model of distributed consensus—one that prioritizes enterprise needs without ignoring public transparency.

Its governing structure is corporate-heavy, but this may be a necessary tradeoff for stability and adoption in sectors like finance, healthcare, and government services.

As Web3 evolves, Hedera is carving a niche for enterprise-grade decentralization, combining real-world accountability with next-gen performance.

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