Hedera Price, Live Chart & Market Cap

Hedera

HBAR

$0.0872

▼ 7.11%

Price Live

Hedera news

All crypto news →

10 Aug 2026

Grayscale Abandons Plans for Cardano, Polkadot, and Hedera Investment Products

Grayscale Investments has decided to discontinue its plans to launch exchange-traded funds focused on Cardano, Polkadot, and Hedera, according to […]

What is Hedera (HBAR)?

Hedera (HBAR) is an enterprise-grade public network that uses Hashgraph consensus rather than a traditional blockchain. This allows for incredibly high throughput (10,000+ TPS) and asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT) security. While Bitcoin struggles with energy efficiency, Hedera is carbon-negative and governed by a council of global giants like Google, IBM, and Boeing.

In 2026, Hedera has evolved into the “Trust Layer for AI.” Through the Hiero initiative, the network’s codebase has transitioned to a fully open-source project under the Linux Foundation. If you’re comparing its institutional focus to other ecosystems, see our Chainlink guide to see how Hedera’s native services compete with decentralized oracle networks for real-world data provenance.

Institutional Expansion and the FedEx Node

The headline news for March 2026 is FedEx officially joining the Hedera Governing Council. FedEx is utilizing the Hedera Consensus Service (HCS) to anchor its global supply chain data, providing a verifiable “paper trail” for millions of packages. This massive industrial use case has validated Hedera’s “Proof of Useful Work” model, a sharp contrast to the energy-intensive Proof of Work systems used by older generation assets.

Furthermore, the January 2026 Fee Adjustment has stabilized the network’s long-term economics. By increasing the cost of ConsensusSubmitMessage transactions to $0.0008, the Council has ensured that node operators remain profitable as enterprise volume scales. This predictable, USD-pegged fee structure is a key reason why Hedera is often favored over the volatile gas markets found in the Ethereum vs Solana debate.

Real-World Assets (RWAs) and Tokenization

Hedera has emerged as a leader in Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization in 2026. The launch of the “Asset Tokenization Studio” has made it the primary choice for institutions like BlackRock and State Street to tokenize money market funds. With sub-3-second finality, Hedera provides the near-instant settlement required for global finance. To compare how Hedera’s hashgraph tech stacks up against high-speed blockchains, check out our Aptos profile for a look at Parallel Execution vs. Gossip-about-Gossip.

Native Staking and Security

Network security is bolstered by Native HBAR Staking, which currently offers a reward rate of approximately 2.5% APY. Unlike other networks, Hedera does not require “slashing” or bonding periods; your HBAR remains liquid in your account while you earn. To maximize your rewards and participate in the 2026 governance era, ensure you are using the right types of crypto wallets that support native proxy-staking and the latest Hiero JSON-RPC relay standards.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Hedera "Hiero" initiative?

Hiero is the 2026 evolution of Hedera’s codebase into a fully open-source project hosted by the Linux Foundation.
This move transitions Hedera from being "corporate-owned" to a community-developed infrastructure project, encouraging broader developer adoption.

How did Hedera fees change in January 2026?

Starting January 2026, the fee for ConsensusSubmitMessage increased from $0.0001 to $0.0008 USD.
This was the first price adjustment since 2019, designed to cover rising infrastructure costs and ensure the long-term economic sustainability of the network.

Who joined the Hedera Governing Council in 2026?

Global logistics giant FedEx officially joined the council in February 2026.
They are using the network to build a decentralized digital supply chain infrastructure, marking one of the largest real-world enterprise deployments to date.

Can Hedera host AI models?

While Hedera doesn't host LLMs directly like a "world computer," it is used as a "Trust Layer" for AI in 2026.
It provides immutable logs for AI training data and model provenance, ensuring that AI outputs can be audited and verified for accuracy.

What is the staking reward for HBAR in 2026?

The maximum native staking reward is currently capped at 2.5% APY.
Rewards are liquid, meaning there is no lock-up period, and they are funded by the Hedera Treasury (Account 0.0.800) as long as it remains above the 85 million HBAR threshold.