This article was last updated on August 8, 2022
Hedera is arguably the number one most adopted crypto network by enterprises. It uses its own version of the blockchain – a hashgraph consensus – which makes it stand out. Many wonder whether or not we can see the network make a bull run yet again, like in 2021. More specifically, can Hedera reach $1, or is it out of the question?
In the crypto world, nothing is impossible, as we all know. Many thought cryptocurrencies in general were a complete fad that will go away. Looking at it today, even the biggest naysayers are investing in crypto assets.
For serious investors, Hedera’s always been a project to follow. This is mostly because it partners with giants like Google, Boeing, Ubisoft, IBM, LG, Shinhan Bank, and others. You can see the whole list here. The council members will supposedly change after a period of time, giving chance to other partners.
Since Hedera is a complicated project, we made sure to break all the information down. Of course, it is not a bad idea to have a grasp of the fundamentals of crypto. Once you got that down and go through our article, you will leave understanding how Hedera works. Not only that, but we will cover its price history, catalysts, and when can we expect it to reach $1 in price evaluation.
Over the past week, the price of Hedera (HBAR) remained around $0.078. The circulation supply is 21 billion tokens. The market cap went up to $1,66 million.
How To Buy Hedera (HBAR) – Summary
Follow these four simple steps to become an owner of Hedera (HBAR):
- Find a crypto exchange (CEX) that sells HBAR.
- Create an account with CEX of choice.
- Fund your account.
- Buy HBAR.
- (Optional) Transfer HBAR to an external crypto wallet.
This is just a summarized guide of what we have further down below. We have two more extensive guides that will give you detailed instructions on how to purchase Hedera (HBAR).
Table of contents
What Is Hedera (HBAR) & How It Works
Hedera is a completely open-source, proof-of-stake, public distributed ledger that, unlike the rest, doesn’t use blockchain technology. Instead, it uses the unique hashgraph consensus, patented by Hedera, meaning no one else can use it. The network’s main focus is to be adopted by corporations for easy development and deployment of decentralized applications (dApps).
Before we get into the hashgraph consensus, let’s view a little more about Hedera’s uniqueness and focus.
Right now, Hedera is one of the fastest, most energy-efficient, and arguably hack-proof networks out there. Responsible for this is the hashgraph consensus, which allows for these advantages to be put into play.
Now let’s talk about the unique hashgraph consensus. First and foremost, the development of the hashgraph focused on providing “near-perfect” efficiency in the usage of bandwidth. To put this in perspective, Hedera can easily process 10.000 transactions per second (tps). This is quite interesting, as most of the biggest blockchains can do only 10-20.
All of this can happen in a single shard. Shard is a peer-to-peer interconnection between nodes in a single network.
Because of the hashgraph, transactions cost has an average price of around $0.0001. Needless to say, that is quite the feat because there are not a lot of other networks offering the same fees. On top of that, transaction finality takes, on average, about 5 seconds, which is yet another advantage.
Overall, the hashgraph consensus tackles many of the problems blockchains cannot. This includes the speed, efficiency, cost, and scalability of the network. It also is a way more safe method of securing Hedera.
Obviously, the consensus mechanism is not going to be enough for Hedera to reach $1. However, without it, other catalysts won’t be able to operate in the same way, which is why it is important.
Governance
Hedera is currently owned and governed by some of the biggest enterprises out there. This includes companies such as Boeing, Ubisoft, Google, IBM, LG, Shinhan Bank, and 19 more. In total, there can be 39 companies that will be the governing body.
Although these are centralized companies, distributing the power between them allows the network to reach decentralization. According to the official website, the 39 companies will be balanced fairly across time, region, and industry.
Additionally, the decentralization will depend on how many nodes join the network. There are two types of nodes – Consensus and Mirror.
Consensus nodes process transactions from users, take in the transaction fees and make sure the consensus is achieved.
Mirror nodes, on the other hand, are permissionless. Their purpose is to store transaction history, due to optimization. Unlike Consensus nodes, Mirror nodes do not participate in the consensus, nor in the transaction process.
HBAR Token Utility
HBAR is the native token of the Hedera ecosystem. It is efficient in energy consumption and serves two main functions.
- Fuel – HBAR tokens pay for network-related services and reward nodes in hopes to incentivise them to provide computing resources for Hedera. The developers look at HBAR as “fuel” (similar to “gas” tokens).
- Security – Since Hedera has plans to make the transition to permissionless nodes, HBAR tokens will act as network defenders. They will protect Hedera from all sorts of cyberattacks and bad actors. This will be possible through “the network’s forthcoming coin-weighted, proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism”, as stated by the official whitepaper of Hedera.
Hedera Catalysts To Reach $1
Although crypto networks can be unique and that gives them an advantage, it cannot be the only reason for a growing adoption. This is where catalysts come into play, which is what we will be covering here. They are the reason why Hedera will potentially reach a price evaluation of $1. Thankfully, Hedera has a Roadmap, unlike some other crypto networks, which will help us understand the upcoming updates better.
Hedera is currently in partnership with the abovementioned Google, Boeing, Ubisoft, IBM, Shinhan Bank, LG, and others. This alone gives them a whole lot of credibility, which is important in both the short and long term.
Aside from that, there are a couple more things we will discuss here, so without further ado, let’s get into it.
Smart Contracts
One thing that will definitely affect the price of Hedera is their Smart Contracts 2.0 update. The update’s been live since the beginning of February 2022, but not many have noticed. With the launch of Smart Contracts 2.0, Hedera makes the conscious choice to be interoperable with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
As you might already know, EVM is the starting point for many developers looking to dive into the crypto world. Because of the integration in Hedera, the Smart Contracts will now be able to transfer, mint, burn, associate, and dissociate tokens.
Aside from that, this will also enable Hedera to achieve even higher scalability, lower transaction fees, and faster transaction speed.
In Q2, we will be getting an additional update, allowing for the ownership of fungible and non-fungible tokens. This is going to be an important feature for Hedera, no doubt.
Carbon Negative
Staying carbon negative is going to be inevitable for crypto networks in the future. Those who are smarter are looking a couple of steps ahead. This is one thing Hedera excels at. We will be looking at official statistics brought forth by Hedera.
Even if you know nothing about energy (watts, for example), we will break it down into bits and pieces.
At the moment, the average energy consumption per transaction for Hedera is 0.00017 kWh applied on more than 2.5 million transactions per day. This equals about 0.0000205494552 kgCO2.
To show you how little this is, we will give examples with Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin consumes 1,736.85 kWh, while Ethereum – 133.88 kWh, all of this per transaction. They each produce around 825 kgCO2 and 63.59 kgCO2, respectively, for the same amount of transactions as Hedera. Keep in mind that this is in a single day, which is quite problematic.
We expect to see a reduction in energy consumption with the release of Ethereum 2.0, but we have to wait on that one.
Proxy Staking
As part of the roadmap for 2022, Hedera looks to allow owners of HBAR to stake their assets. It seems that the update will come in Q2 of 2022, although it can potentially be delayed.
The staking method is called Proxy Staking, more about which can be found on the official homepage of Hedera. It looks to allow those who do not operate a node to stake. Simply put, you’ll be able to stake on someone else’s node. This directly affects the influence of a node – the more stakes a node has, the heavier its influence on the consensus.
If you decide to stake, earnings will be split between both parties – you and the node owner. These earnings come from transaction fees as an incentive.
What is unique here is that your HBAR tokens will not be locked, unlike with other networks. You will be able to take control of your HBAR whenever you feel like it.
Governance
In the second half of 2022, we can expect to see updates regarding community-ran mainnet nodes. This will be quite interesting, as it will give HBAR owners the ability to participate in the operation of the network.
What this will also do is further add to the path of decentralization for Hedera.
In terms of importance, this catalyst will definitely be a great deal of help for Hedera to reach $1.
Price History & ATH
The price history is an important piece of the puzzle when looking for a prediction or speculation. In this case, we are looking for ways that Hedera will reach $1. However, the price history also helps you understand the current price evaluation.
This is quite important when looking to invest. You need to know the current performance of a token – is it on a “discount” or is it “over-prized”.
In this section, we will explore the price of Hedera over the years and see what its current price evaluation is.
2019 – 2020
Even before launch, Hedera was quite well-known, which led to many investing in its launchpad. In September 2019, HBAR was first released on crypto exchange platforms. However, similar to other such projects, most investors instantly sold their tokens.
The initial price of HBAR was $0.087 but quickly dropped to $0.011 by the end of the year.
When 2020 began, the first month was stagnant, so the price remained the same. However, at the beginning of March, HBAR regained some of its previous evaluation, reaching $0.07.
Once again, investors sold so the price of HBAR dropped down to $0.03 and went sideways until the end of the year.
2021
As we all know, the crypto market saw enormous adoption in 2021 for many reasons we won’t discuss here.
HBAR started its bull run in January and reached a price of $0.40 within the first 2 months. This is more than a 10x increase. Of course, it lost some of its value due to the market crash, that lasted until July.
However, in August, another bull run began for Hedera. It reached its all-time high of $0.50 in September. HBAR finished the year with a price evaluation of $0.30.
2022
Even today most of the cryptocurrencies have been losing value, proving 2022 to be a tough year. This also applies to Hedera. Ever since the beginning of the year, HBAR’s been on a bear run.
Currently, the price of Hedera is around $0.20, which is a bit far away from reaching $1. However, we can overlook this, due to the situation with the crypto market as a whole. We expect to see it rise once the bull run begins.
Is Investing In Hedera (HBAR) Worth It
Now that we know how Hedera works, its catalysts, and its price evaluation history, we can move on to a more important question. Is Hedera worth investing in? We will leave aside the speculation of Hedera reaching $1 for a moment.
It is inarguable that Hedera is a unique network that is almost unmatched in terms of partnerships. It also offers a lot of useful features to its asset owners.
As for the catalysts, although all are going to be useful, there really isn’t too much going on. There aren’t any mind-blowing updates that we are waiting for. However, we must keep in mind that ecosystems usually do not share major updates in order to avoid being mimicked.
Because of this, it is not out of the question for Hedera to release an update that will blow up the crypto community. Yet, we can only speculate on that.
Going back to whether or not Hedera can reach $1 – it definitely can. Its all-time high is $0.50, which is half of that. However, if we remain realistic, we cannot expect Hedera to jump up to $1 this year. Unless a significant event occurs, it is quite unlikely.
On a more realistic look, if we had to speculate, we can probably expect Hedera to reach $1 within a 2-3 year period.
This brings us to our conclusion. We believe that Hedera is a good investment, but there are also projects that appear to have better potential when it comes to short-term returns. Short term means 1-2 years.
Deciding whether to invest in Hedera or not should always come from researching and believing in the project.
How To Buy Hedera (HBAR) – In-Depth
In this section, we will go through all the information that will help you purchase Hedera (HBAR). If you’ve already made up your mind and think it’s worth investing in Hedera, or believe it can reach $1, let’s get to business:
- Find a crypto exchange (CEX) that has HBAR listed.
This one is somewhat self-explanatory. What is interesting about HBAR is that it currently got some more recognition and is seeing more adoption, meaning most major crypto exchange platforms offer it. This includes Binance, eToro, KuCoin, Huobi Global, and some others. - Create an account with the CEX.
Once you’ve chosen your CEX it is time to create an account. The initial process of registering an account is actually quite easy on most platforms. However, you will need to verify your identity by providing photos of your ID, documents, proof of residency, or others. The team that verifies your information can take up to 5 business days to approve your account. - Fund your account.
Now that your account’s been approved, you can move on to the next step, which is funding your account. This is not a necessary step, as you can directly purchase crypto assets using your bank card. However, it happens a bit slower, so if you want to purchase a token at a specific moment, it might prove difficult if you have no pre-deposited funds in your account. This also allows you to time your purchase better. - Buy HBAR.
With your account funded and ready to buy HBAR, you can do one of two things. Either select how much fiat currency you wish to exchange for HBAR, or how many HBAR tokens you wish to purchase. Following that, confirm the transaction and you will be an owner of HBAR. - (Optional) Transfer HBAR to a third-party crypto wallet.
CEXs have integrated crypto wallets, which makes it easy to purchase tokens and keep them on-site. However, if for any reason the platform wants to freeze your account, you’ve got no way of transferring your crypto assets. For this reason, many use CEXs to buy crypto, but then immediately transfer them to a third-party crypto wallet like MetaMask, which you are the owner of and nobody can block.
How To Buy Hedera (HBAR) – eToro
An easy way to purchase crypto assets outside the conventional crypto exchanges is eToro. If you are interested in purchasing HBAR from eToro, follow the instructions below for a step-by-step guide:
- Create An Account.
It is very easy to open an account with eToro, as there are only a couple of steps. However, you will need to verify your identity through different means, including a photo of your ID. It will take only a couple of hours for the eToro team to review the provided information and approve your account. - Link Card.
Once eToro verifies your identity and account, feel free to link your card, as this will allow you to make faster transactions. You can do so by going to the “Deposit Funds” section on the left navigation pane, choosing the amount you want to deposit, clicking on “Online Banking”, and selecting “Link Bank Account”. - Add Funds.
If you follow the steps above you will be able to fund your account. In the future, things will be easier as you already have linked your card. Keep in mind that different countries have different deposit requirements, so check that one out before making a deposit. - Buy HBAR.
To do so, use the search bar and type in either Hedera or HBAR. Click on “Trade” and choose the amount of fiat you wish to exchange for HBAR or the number of HBAR tokens you wish to purchase. Following that, confirm the transaction. Once you do that, you will see the number of HBAR tokens you purchased as part of your eToro assets.
Closing Words
Hedera is definitely a unique project that rules in its own niche. This is more than obvious now that we know how it operates, what its price evaluation is, its partners, etc. Whether or not you are interested in the project, Hedera is definitely here to stay.
This is exactly the reason why many developers and investors are looking in Hedera’s direction. When you see a network that partners with so many giant companies, it gives it credibility. Investors are always looking to verify how legit a project is. There is nothing that proves it better than partners like Google, Boeing, IBM, etc.
Also, by looking at the project’s ambition and roadmap, we can see where it’s headed. The upcoming updates might not be something major, but it is important to have them. There are some networks that have no roadmap whatsoever. Hedera is different in that it openly shows many updates for each quarter.
What is even more important is the fact that they realize all their roadmap updates/promises.
With that being said, we believe Hedera can definitely reach that $1 mark. However, it will not happen anytime soon. If we had to speculate, we’d say it will get there in no less than 1-2 years.
Seeing how promising and stable the project is compared to others, we believe it is worthy of being in our portfolio. However, nothing is more important than you believing in the network. Once you do, you can think of investing in it.
