Is Hedera Hashgraph Better than Blockchain Technology?

Blockchain promises a decentralized, tamper-proof, and transparent platform for verifying transactions without the need for a third party to validate everything.   But blockchain technology does not have a monopoly in this field.  Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) is designed for the same purpose but promises to be better in terms of efficiency and scalability.

Mance Harmon, the co-founder of Hedera, has recently been interviewed by the Paul Barron Network YouTube Channel. He discussed Hedera’s partnership with Dell and how the project has done well despite the crypto winter.

Strong Metrics Despite the Crypto Winter

Hedera has delivered a strong quarter 4 in 2022 despite the ongoing crypto winter.

• The project has recorded an all-time high in total value locked (TVL).  The main contributors are the success of its first decentralized exchange Saucerswap and the launch of Heliswap and Bubbleswap.

• Hedera Crypto Service Transactions recorded an all-time high in Q4. These service transactions enable users to perform tasks on the network, which include transferring Fungible and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), creating, and updating accounts.

• Hedera’s core offering is composed of the Consensus Service, Crypto Service, Smart Contract Service, and Token Service.  Theses offering showed a mixed performance, but still strong compared to Q4 of last year.

Dell Partners Joins the Governing Council

The Hedera Governing Council recently admitted Dell Technologies to help the organization explore distributed ledger technology (DLT).  As a member of the council, Dell will gain exposure running its own Hedera node.   Dell will also gain experience in developing applications on the network.

The Hedera Governing Council is a group of industry leaders and multinational organizations that oversee the development and governance of the Hedera Hashgraph network. It is responsible for making decisions related to the network’s technical direction, security, stability, and decentralization.  Members include Boeing, Chainlink Lab, Google, IBM, DBS bank, and Deutsche Telekom.  

LG Art Lab relies on the Hedera Network

LG, a major South Korean conglomerate, has launched its own NFT platform called the LG art Lab.  It will enable users of its smart TV to directly buy and sell digital artworks in their own living room.

The company chose Hedera to support this endeavor.  This decision will allow users to enjoy quick and secure transactions for as low as USD 0.0001.

Art lovers can also securely purchase their chosen digital artworks with their Blade Wallet.  This is the only third-party audited WEB3 self-custody wallet in the Hedera Network.

What is Hedera Hashgraph?

Hedera Hashgraph was founded by Leemon Baird and Mance Harmon in 2018.  Like Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets, Hedera is designed to be a digital currency that can be used to make efficient and tamper-proof transactions.  Both are considered to be distributed ledger technologies, but there are some key differences between Hedera and blockchain-based assets.

Blockchain arranges data in a linear or chain-like way, but HBAR uses another type of technology. Hashgraph uses directed acyclic graph (DAG) technology.  DAG arranges data in a particular way that makes it easier to process and verify.

To better understand DAG, let’s imagine a family tree. In a family tree, each individual has a direct connection to their parents and grandparents. This creates a chain-like structure where each generation is linked to the next. However, in a DAG, things are a bit different. Instead of using a chain-like structure, data is organized into a graph-like structure where each data is linked to the other in a more complex way. This allows for more efficient processing and verification of transactions.

Hedera is governed by a council of nodes, while most blockchain DLTs have no central governing authority. Another difference is that blockchains’ consensus mechanisms usually involve proof-of-work (PoW) or proof-of-stake (PoS), but Hedera relies on gossip protocol.

Will Hedera lead the Future of DLT?

The project’s governing council is composed of bigwigs from different industries.  They don’t just decide on what direction Hedera should take, but they also operate their nodes.  These companies won’t invest in anything that doesn’t hold any promise.  Their team would have done extensive research before deploying any resources to the project.

But this governing council which forms the foundation of Hedera is probably one of the things that could raise questions.  Is it decentralized if there is a central authority?  One of its founders, Mance Harmon, thinks that other crypto projects are less decentralized.  He said that Ethereum can be controlled by a few people who control the majority of tokens.  According to him, Bitcoin is controlled by just a few miners.

Hedera’s alternate path is interesting.  It is another take on what a secure, tamper-proof, and transparent platform should look like.  Is it better?  Can it overtake other well-entrenched blockchain projects like Bitcoin and Ethereum?  Nobody knows.  In the end, we just have to wait which protocol will be used by the majority of users.

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