The Journey of Hedera (HBAR): From Hashgraph Invention to a Decentralized Future (2012-2024)

Hedera’s journey from its inception in 2012 to becoming one of the most innovative and widely adopted decentralized networks in the blockchain space is a testament to the vision and persistence of its founders, Dr. Leemon Baird and Mance Harmon. Below is a detailed look at the evolution of Hedera (HBAR) from 2012 to 2024.

2012-2016: Invention of Hashgraph

In 2012, Dr. Leemon Baird embarked on a mission to solve the longstanding challenge of achieving distributed consensus at scale. Between 2012 and 2014, he began developing the concept of hashgraph, a revolutionary algorithm for distributed consensus that promised to offer faster, more secure, and fairer alternatives to existing technologies like blockchain.

By 2015-2016, Dr. Baird, alongside his business partner Mance Harmon, realized the immense potential of hashgraph. In 2016, they founded Swirlds, Inc., a company dedicated to developing proofs of concept and commercializing hashgraph for private implementations. Their vision extended far beyond private use cases: they aimed to build a public, decentralized ledger that could become the “trust layer of the internet,” supporting mainstream adoption across industries. The Hashgraph Whitepaper was published in May 2016, cementing hashgraph’s status as a breakthrough in consensus technology.

2017-2018: Formation of Hedera

With the foundational work completed, Dr. Baird and Mance Harmon turned their attention to creating a public distributed ledger powered by hashgraph. In 2017, Swirlds raised its seed investment round, which helped fuel the creation of Hedera, the platform that would use hashgraph’s patented consensus algorithm.

In Q1-Q2 2017, the initial business strategy for Hedera was developed, including key decisions about governance, council structure, and preventing forks. By Q3-Q4 2017, Hedera began recruiting its founding team, including Jordan Fried and Natalie Grunfeld Furman, and formed the Hashgraph Consortium, LLC in Delaware. Their first significant public appearance was at TechCrunch Disrupt 2017 in San Francisco, where they introduced hashgraph to the world.

In 2018, Hedera was officially launched, with a public unveiling event on March 13, 2018 in New York City, drawing over 100,000 live viewers. The Hedera whitepaper was published, and the Hedera network was revealed as governed by a Council of up to 39 global enterprises. This structure emphasized Hedera’s commitment to decentralization and security. By the end of Q3 2018, Hedera’s mainnet went live, marking the first phase of its journey to becoming a fully functional public distributed ledger.

2019: Open Access and Council Expansion

In 2019, Hedera began expanding its global presence, announcing major organizations as Council members, including Deutsche Telekom, IBM, and Boeing. The announcement of Hedera’s Mirror Node software and the beginning of open access to the mainnet in September further solidified Hedera’s commitment to transparency and scalability.

By Q4 2019, Hedera launched Hedera Boost, a program designed to help startups build on its network, encouraging development on Hedera and expanding its ecosystem. This set the stage for Hedera to become a more accessible platform for developers and enterprise users alike.

2020: Hedera Consensus Service (HCS) Launch

In early 2020, Hedera introduced the Hedera Consensus Service (HCS) on the mainnet, allowing developers to create verifiable timestamps and order events. The HCS was crucial for Hedera’s evolution, enabling enterprise-grade applications to leverage Hedera’s consensus mechanism for a variety of use cases, including supply chain management, healthcare, and more.

By Q2 2020, Google and Wipro were welcomed as new Council members, and Hedera surpassed Ethereum in daily transaction volume, demonstrating its scalability. Hedera’s open-source transition continued, with key software components released under the Apache 2.0 license, making Hedera more accessible to the development community.

2021: Hedera Token Service (HTS) Launch

A major milestone in 2021 was the launch of the Hedera Token Service (HTS) on the mainnet in February. HTS allowed for the creation and management of both fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Hedera, significantly expanding the network’s capabilities. By Q2 2021, Hedera reached one billion mainnet transactions, showcasing the rapid growth of its ecosystem.

Throughout 2021, Hedera continued to expand its Council members, including Shinhan Bank and Chainlink Labs, and made further strides in its commitment to environmental sustainability, positioning itself as a carbon-negative network. Hedera also launched the HBAR Foundation, which allocated significant resources to support the development of decentralized applications and the broader Hedera ecosystem.

2022: Hedera Smart Contract Service 2.0 and Further Decentralization

In 2022, Hedera made major strides in improving its smart contract capabilities with the launch of the Hedera Smart Contract Service (HSCS) 2.0, which was open-source and Ethereum-compatible. This move allowed developers to build applications using Solidity and benefit from Hedera’s native features, such as tokenization and NFT support.

In the second half of 2022, Hedera achieved further decentralization with the transition of key personnel to Swirlds Labs (now known as Hashgraph), an effort to accelerate the development of Hedera’s future. Additionally, native staking was introduced on Hedera, allowing the ecosystem to develop staking tools and enabling HBAR holders to earn rewards.

2023: Expanding Network and Stablecoin Pilots

The Hedera ecosystem continued to grow in 2023, with major announcements such as the addition of Dell Technologies and COFRA Holding to the Council. One of the most notable developments in 2023 was the successful pilot of stablecoin remittances by Shinhan Bank and SCB TechX on the Hedera network. Hedera’s Stablecoin Studio, an open-source SDK, made it easier for organizations to build stablecoin applications, solidifying Hedera’s role in the financial sector.

Additionally, Charles Adkins was appointed as President of the Hedera Council, marking a new chapter in Hedera’s governance structure.

2024: Hedera’s Strategic Milestones and Codebase Donation

In 2024, Hedera reached a historic milestone by donating its entire codebase to the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust, the first time a public chain had made such a move. This donation further demonstrated Hedera’s commitment to open-source development and decentralization.

Furthermore, Hedera launched the Asset Tokenization Studio, an open-source toolkit for the configuration, issuance, and management of tokenized bonds and equities on-chain, showcasing its role in bridging traditional finance with the blockchain world. The Hello Future Hackathon 2024 also took place, with over $350,000 in prizes awarded to innovative solutions built using hashgraph.

In the second half of 2024, the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) joined the Hedera Council, and the network continued to expand its influence in the global blockchain ecosystem.

Conclusion

From its humble beginnings in 2012 to becoming a leading decentralized network, Hedera has consistently demonstrated innovation, scalability, and a commitment to decentralization. With its unique hashgraph consensus algorithm, Hedera has become a platform that not only supports high-throughput applications but also ensures security, fairness, and sustainability. As Hedera continues to grow and evolve, its vision of becoming the “trust layer of the internet” is steadily becoming a reality.

FAQs

What is the Hashgraph algorithm, and how does it differ from blockchain? The Hashgraph algorithm, invented by Dr. Leemon Baird in 2012, is a consensus mechanism that enables faster, more secure, and fairer distributed consensus compared to traditional blockchain. Unlike blockchain, which relies on linear chains of blocks, Hashgraph uses a directed acyclic graph (DAG) for asynchronous communication, ensuring high throughput, low latency, and resistance to malicious attacks.

What role does the Hedera Governing Council play in the network? The Hedera Governing Council comprises up to 39 global enterprises, including IBM, Google, and Boeing, responsible for the network's governance, stability, and security. This council prevents centralization by ensuring no single entity controls the network while providing decentralized decision-making and long-term oversight.

What are some of Hedera’s key milestones between 2012 and 2024?

• 2018: Launch of the Hedera mainnet and introduction of the Governing Council.
• 2021: Introduction of the Hedera Token Service (HTS) for fungible and non-fungible tokens.
• 2024: Donation of Hedera’s codebase to the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust and launch of the Asset Tokenization Studio for on-chain tokenized financial instruments.

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