{"id":37666,"date":"2022-07-26T12:29:13","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T09:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=37666"},"modified":"2025-08-29T19:49:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T16:49:39","slug":"what-is-hedera-hashgraph-hbar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/what-is-hedera-hashgraph-hbar\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR)?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Key points<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hedera Hashgraph is a public network built on distributed-ledger technology (<a href=\"https:\/\/hedera.com\/learning\/distributed-ledger-technologies\/what-are-distributed-ledger-technologies-dlts\">DLT<\/a>), designed for businesses as a platform for decentralised services and applications.<\/li>\n<li>Hedera presents itself as a third-generation public network\u2014the next stage after Bitcoin and Ethereum. Its strengths include high scalability, security, smart contracts, energy efficiency and low usage fees.<\/li>\n<li>Hedera Hashgraph is governed by a council of trusted companies responsible for software development and the platform\u2019s overall direction. Members include Boeing, Swirlds, IBM, Nomura Holdings and Ubisoft.<\/li>\n<li>Hedera Hashgraph is built on an ABFT consensus algorithm underpinned by Proof-of-Stake (PoS). According to the developers, this provides strong security while keeping transactions fast and cheap.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Who created Hedera Hashgraph, and when?<\/h2>\n<p>The Hedera Hashgraph platform is based on the Hashgraph protocol, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swirlds.com\/downloads\/SWIRLDS-TR-2016-01.pdf\">patented<\/a> in 2016 by Swirlds. The design was developed by the firm\u2019s CTO, Leemon Baird.<\/p>\n<p>The first practical implementation came in 2017 as a shared enterprise network for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and the Mountain West Credit Union Association (MWCUA).<\/p>\n<p>The public Hedera Hashgraph platform was founded by Swirlds co-founder Mance Harmon and Leemon Baird.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018 Hedera Hashgraph raised $100m to develop the project. In 2019 the developers launched a public beta of the network.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Hedera Hashgraph\u2019s investors<\/h2>\n<p>The Hedera Hashgraph platform has the backing of several large investors:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent of digital-asset manager Grayscale Investments. DCG <a href=\"https:\/\/dcg.co\/portfolio\/\">has invested<\/a> in many well-known industry players, including Coinbase, Kraken, Coinlist, Zcash, Ripple, Ledger and Decentraland;<\/li>\n<li>Fenbushi Digital, one of China\u2019s oldest and best-known venture firms. Until 2018 its general partner was Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The firm has participated in funding rounds for The Graph, 1inch Network and Nym Technologies;<\/li>\n<li>Multicoin Capital, a crypto investment company founded in 2017. Multicoin Capital led one of the early funding rounds for Solana Labs and invested in the FTX exchange. In July 2022 the company announced a $430m venture crypto fund.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Who governs Hedera Hashgraph?<\/h2>\n<p>The platform is governed by the Hedera Governing Council, formed in 2019 from several representatives of the Fortune 500.<\/p>\n<p>As of late July 2022, the council had <a href=\"https:\/\/hedera.com\/council\">26 companies<\/a> and organisations, including Boeing, Swirlds, IBM, Nomura Holdings and Ubisoft. Membership is capped at 39. Terms last three years with the possibility of two renewals.<\/p>\n<p>The council is tasked with safeguarding the codebase and mitigating the risk of a hard fork. It also sets membership policy, establishes network rules, manages the platform\u2019s treasury and approves technical changes.<\/p>\n<p>Because Hashgraph is patented, unauthorised use of Hedera\u2019s code entails legal action. According to the project team\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/help.hedera.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/360000665078-Is-the-the-Hedera-network-and-cryptocurrency-able-to-fork-\">statement<\/a>, this means the network cannot be copied and launched by other crypto-market participants.<\/p>\n<p>That differs markedly from Bitcoin\u2014anyone can use the first cryptocurrency\u2019s blockchain code and modify it at will.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">How does Hedera Hashgraph work?<\/h2>\n<p>The Hedera Hashgraph distributed network uses a data structure different from a blockchain: a directed acyclic graph (DAG). In a DAG, batches of transactions and other data are not chained in strict linear order as in Bitcoin; they are recorded to the ledger regardless of sequence.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"967\" height=\"659\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hedera.png\" alt=\"\u0427\u0442\u043e \u0442\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0435 Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR)?\" class=\"wp-image-179916\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hedera.png 967w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hedera-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hedera-768x523.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 967px) 100vw, 967px\" \/><figcaption>Hedera Hashgraph data structure. Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swirlds.com\/downloads\/SWIRLDS-TR-2016-01.pdf\">Swirlds<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In blockchains, miners compete to process the same transactions and tasks, in a sense wasting energy. By contrast, a DAG architecture allows many independent, parallel computations, which increases throughput and energy efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>Hedera Hashgraph also relies on several other mechanisms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Asynchronous Byzantine fault tolerance (ABFT)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hedera.com\/learning\/hedera-hashgraph\/what-is-asynchronous-byzantine-fault-tolerance-abft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ABFT<\/a> is an implementation of the Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus algorithm used in blockchains such as <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-cosmos-atom\">Cosmos<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-solana-sol\">Solana<\/a>. It protects the network against malicious behaviour by up to one-third of nodes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gossip protocol<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>In Hedera, gossip <a href=\"https:\/\/hedera.com\/learning\/hedera-hashgraph\/what-is-gossip-about-gossip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">is used<\/a> to exchange messages (transaction, timestamp, signature) between nodes. A node sends a message to its neighbours, which pass it on to their neighbours, and so on until the information reaches all participants.<\/p>\n<p>This helps preserve bandwidth when transmitting data. The same \u201cconversation\u201d mechanism is used by <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-theta-network\">Theta Network<\/a> and IOTA.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Proof-of-Stake<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Staking in Hedera Hashgraph differs from the mechanism in <a href=\"https:\/\/hedera.com\/blog\/why-is-there-no-slashing-in-hederas-proof-of-stake\">Ethereum 2.0<\/a> and other PoS blockchains, where each node votes for a block.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, nodes determine mathematically which block the next node will vote for\u2014a system called \u201cvirtual voting\u201d. Even if a malicious node works against the rules, the honest participants\u2019 computations prevent an incorrect decision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">How is Hedera Hashgraph used?<\/h2>\n<p>The developers position the project as a platform for business, so the network has several specific features. Unlike Ethereum and BNB Chain, an ordinary user cannot deploy a smart contract or decentralised application.<\/p>\n<p>To gain full access to Hedera\u2019s services, you must create an account and complete verification. After verification, the following <a href=\"https:\/\/hedera.com\/services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">become available<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>issuance and management of tokens, including NFTs;<\/li>\n<li>creation and deployment of smart contracts in Solidity and Vyper;<\/li>\n<li>file-service operations\u2014storing, verifying, viewing and managing credentials and other information on the network.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This approach helps protect the platform from fraud and ensures compliance with the requirements of specific participants in given jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<p>Through intermediaries such as exchanges and authorised wallets, Hedera Hashgraph allows \u201cordinary\u201d accounts without verification. The current list is available <a href=\"https:\/\/hedera.com\/wallets\">on the website<\/a> of the project.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Features of Hedera Hashgraph<\/h2>\n<p>Hedera\u2019s source code is closed and protected by a Swirlds patent. Members of the Hedera Governing Council are responsible for the platform\u2019s governance and development.<\/p>\n<p>According to the developers, Hedera Hashgraph <a href=\"https:\/\/hedera.com\/\">is<\/a> an enterprise-grade platform with limited user access to the network and to development on top of it. It is one of the few crypto projects initially focused on regulatory compliance.<\/p>\n<p>Despite its restrictions, Hedera Hashgraph has several competitive <a href=\"https:\/\/hedera.com\/\">advantages<\/a> highlighted by the team:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Speed and scalability.<\/strong> As of July 2022 the platform can process more than 10,000 transactions per second, with further scaling possible via <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-sharding\">sharding<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Low fees.<\/strong> Transaction fees are fractions of a cent, a clear advantage over rivals such as Ethereum and BNB Chain.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Low energy consumption.<\/strong> The network does not require energy-intensive computations as in Proof-of-Work systems. According to the project, Hedera consumes just 0.00017 kWh, which is hundreds of thousands of times less than Bitcoin\u2019s blockchain.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Legal compliance.<\/strong> Hedera is oriented toward complying with laws in various jurisdictions by imposing restrictions on users and locations. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/help.hedera.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/360000647237-Which-regions-are-eligible-to-create-a-Hedera-Portal-Profile-\">Hedera FAQ<\/a>, full access is unavailable to users from nine regions: Belarus, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Japan, North Korea, Syria, Sudan and Ukraine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Further reading<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-curve\">What is Curve?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-merkle-tree\">What is a Merkle tree?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-arbitrum\">What is Arbitrum?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-lido\">What is Lido?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Hedera Hashgraph? Who created the platform and when? How does the network differ from \u201ctraditional\u201d blockchains, and how does it work? Explained in ForkLog\u2019s educational cards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"1","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2113],"tags":[2117,1365],"class_list":["post-37666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptorium","tag-101-altcoins","tag-hedera-hashgraph"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"113","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37668,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37666\/revisions\/37668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}