What is Hedera (HBAR)?

Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) is called the third generation blockchain, even though it officially isn‘t a blockchain. With a blockchain, transactions are added to blocks, then the blocks are linked together. That doesn't happen with Hedera Hashgraph, because this project uses Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). This is a technique where transactions are directly linked together.

Dr. Leemon Baird and Mance Harmon are the founders of Hedera Hashgraph, and wanted to develop a blockchain that is better than already existing blockchains. This means developers can easily develop applications and users have low costs for conducting transactions. They succeeded, as performing a transaction costs only €0.0001. More than 10,000 transactions per second (TPS) can be processed, which is significantly greater than most other blockchains. For example, Bitcoin's blockchain can only handle 7 transactions per second, and Ethereum sits at an average of 14 transactions per second.

Hedera Hashgraph is unique in that it uses Hashgraph technology. This technology makes the blockchain fast, cheap and scalable. The Gossip protocol, invented by Dr. Leemon Baird, ensures that transactions are propagated through the network at lightning speed.

Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (ABFT) ensures that each transaction is provided with a timestamp. This is a piece of code that records the date and time of the transaction. This is important because transactions are directly linked to each other. Therefore, it must be clear in what order transactions were made.

What can you use Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) for?

You can use Hedera Hashgraph to develop your own tokens. Think about simple tokens, using the ERC20 token standard. This is the most widely used token standard, which is also used for tokens on Ethereum. In addition, you can also develop more complex non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Hedera Hashgraph.

Developers have the ability to build decentralized applications (dApps) on Hedera Hashgraph. In fact, the project provides support for smart contracts. These can be compared to digital contracts, where conditions are created to perform certain actions. This is all done through code.

The high scalability of Hedera Hashgraph is positive for end users. When you want to use an application running on Hedera Hashgraph, you can assume high efficiency. This is because it takes little money and time to perform a transaction, which also makes using these dApps easy.

The HBAR token

HBAR is the token of Hedera Hashgraph and uses the ERC20 token standard. There is a total maximum inventory of 50 billion tokens, not all of which are in circulation yet. The company behind Hedera Hashgraph regularly lets you know when they will bring a new quantity of tokens into circulation. It is expected that by 2025 some 34% of the total stock will be in circulation.

Of these 50 billion tokens, 2 billion tokens (4% of the total stock) are owned by the two founders. Other team members (who stepped in before 2018) also own HBAR tokens. They have between 250 and 300 million HBAR tokens.

HBAR can be used to pay gas fees. So to use an application, or to send tokens, you will have to pay HBAR tokens. Nodes can also use their HBAR tokens to strike. In fact, Proof-of-Stake (PoS) is used, where nodes have to secure HBAR coins to be allowed to validate transactions. They are rewarded with HBAR coins for their work.

Competitors of Hedera Hashgraph

The technologies that Hedera Hashgraph uses makes the project unique. Many of these technologies were created by the founders of Hedera Hashgraph. This makes Hedera Hashgraph the only or first blockchain to use these technologies. Nevertheless, Hedera Hashgraph has to take into account some major competitors.

Indeed, there are many other blockchains that are used for the same purposes as Hedera Hashgraph. For example, Ethereum is the main competitor. Despite Hedera Hashgraph being faster and cheaper, Ethereum remains the most widely used blockchain for token and application development.

Projects like Fantom, Polkadot, Solana and Cardano can also be seen as serious competition. These are blockchains that, like Hedera Hashgraph, put their focus on scalability, security and speed.

Where to buy Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR)?

You buy Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) at Coinmerce with iDEAL, SEPA, Giropay, MyBank and credit card (Mastercard and Visa). Because these are the most popular payment methods in the Netherlands and Belgium, Coinmerce is the most suitable platform for the purchase of HBAR tokens. In addition, you do not pay any deposit fees for the use of these payment methods. The transaction fees you pay for buying HBAR crypto coins may vary by user and cryptocurrency.

Buying Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) is only possible if you have an account with Coinmerce. If you don't have an account yet, you can register yourself here. Do you already have an account at Coinmerce? Then you can buy HBAR on this page. Indicate in the purchase window how many HBAR tokens or for how many euros you want to buy Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR). You place an order after which Coinmerce takes care of the purchase of HBAR.

In which crypto wallet can you store HBAR tokens?

Because HBAR uses ERC20, the most widely used token standard, you can easily store HBAR in almost any crypto wallet. If you buy HBAR from Coinmerce, the tokens are stored directly in your personal wallet. Here they are safe, as Coinmerce stores most of the tokens in cold storage. By enabling two-factor authentication (2FA), your tokens are even more secure. Of course you can also store HBAR crypto on your own hardware wallet. Cold wallets from both Ledger and Trezor offer support for Hedera Hashgraph crypto coins.