What if I informed you there was a cryptocurrency on the market that’s ruled by a cohort of Fortune 500 corporations like Alphabet and IBM, used for an array of attention-grabbing tasks and use-cases, and will be purchased for simply $0.10 per token? And yet another factor — it is not a blockchain. That is precisely what Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR -1.82%) is.
What’s Hedera Hashgraph?
Hedera Hashgraph is a distributed ledger of transactions, identical to different cryptocurrencies, however Hedera differs from its friends in that it doesn’t use blockchain technology. Hedera as a substitute makes use of a consensus algorithm called a hashgraph, which was developed by its co-founder, pc scientist Leemon Baird. Hashgraph know-how is patented, so Hedera is exclusive in that it’s the solely cryptocurrency utilizing this know-how. In a hashgraph, the totally different nodes throughout the community “gossip” to one another to create a time-sequenced report of all transactions.

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Quick, low cost, and highly effective
Hedera says that this hashgraph know-how is “a sooner, safer various to blockchain mechanisms.” Hedera has a throughput of 10,000 transactions per second with finality in a matter of seconds. The opposite benefit of utilizing Hedera is the low charges — these transactions value a fraction of a cent. This mix of low value and spectacular efficiency has attracted many tasks to the Hedera ecosystem.
Blue-chip backers
Hedera is supported by a variety of giant blue-chip corporations each from throughout the tech {industry} and outdoors of it. Hedera is overseen by a board of governors that features executives from tech giants like Alphabet, ServiceNow (NOW -0.02%), and IBM; producers like Boeing and Avery Dennison; and outstanding international telecom corporations similar to Deutsche Telekom and Tata Communications.
From streams to drones
Having this armada of Fortune 500 corporations on board is all good, but it surely would not quantity to something if they don’t seem to be growing the undertaking. Cryptocurrency skeptics generally say crypto is a “resolution on the lookout for an issue.” However Hedera is already being utilized in loads of real-world use-cases at the moment, and there are already many revolutionary tasks being constructed on Hedera.
For instance, Tune.FM is a streaming service constructed on Hedera that claims it pays artists on its platform as much as 90% of streaming revenues. This beneficiant compensation ratio dwarfs the payout of conventional streaming providers. Tune.FM used Hedera to mint and subject its JAM tokens, which can be utilized to compensate artists by means of micropayments, in addition to NFTs that can be utilized by artists to lift funds and provides followers entry to distinctive possession of paintings or a restricted launch by a favourite artist. Tune.FM selected to construct on Hedera for this undertaking due to its low transaction charges and near-instant settlement instances.
Outdoors the world of music, Neuron is experimenting with utilizing Hedera to trace flight data for drones , and Avery Dennison’s atma.io cloud platform goes to work with Hedera to assist corporations observe the carbon footprint of their merchandise throughout their life cycle utilizing distributed ledger know-how.
Is Hedera a purchase?
Because of each its strategy to consensus and its governing council stacked with industry-leading corporations and the truth that it already appears to be gaining traction throughout a big selection of industries, Hedera holds a singular place throughout the crypto area. That is why I view Hedera as an excellent addition to a long-term cryptocurrency portfolio for risk-tolerant traders.
You will need to word that we’re nonetheless within the very early phases of cryptocurrency adoption, so this can seemingly be a unstable, high-risk, high-reward funding. It’s unclear who the winners and losers will likely be. Nonetheless, based mostly on its bona fides, I believe Hedera is a stable selection to incorporate in a basket of cryptos that would someday be a lot bigger than they’re at the moment.