Hedera Hashgraph Explained | Hashgraph vs Blockchain - Oodles Blockchain

What Hedera Hashgraph Is

Hedera is a public, open-source, proof-of-stake network for real apps. It focuses on predictable fees and fast finality. Teams use it for tokenization, messaging, and contracts. Hedera runs the hashgraph consensus algorithm. Nodes gossip about events and infer votes virtually. That design achieves asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance. It removes leaders and lowers coordination risk. The network delivers deterministic finality in seconds. Applications avoid reorg handling and long confirmation windows.

Hedera supports the EVM through the Smart Contract Service. You deploy Solidity and interact over a JSON-RPC relay. Tooling stays familiar. Hedera also supports native tokenization without contracts. The Token Service handles fungible tokens and NFTs. It enforces fees and roles at the protocol level.

Who should read this page

Product managers who validate platform fit.
Architects who design tokenized and event-driven systems.
Risk and compliance leaders who assess auditability and controls.

Architecture and Consensus (How It Works)

Hashgraph spreads information with “gossip about gossip.” Each event includes hashes of prior events. Nodes then perform virtual voting with no extra messages. Consensus provides aBFT security under standard assumptions. It offers fairness for ordering and timestamp assignment. Finality arrives within a few seconds on the mainnet. You submit, get a receipt, and move on. No confirmation depth applies. You can review the core papers for proofs and properties. Use them when preparing risk memos.

Key components at a glance

Consensus nodes order and timestamp transactions.
Mirror nodes relay historical data and events at scale.
Network services expose native features through SDKs and APIs.

Hedera Network Services (What You Can Use)

Hedera Token Service (HTS)

Mint fungible tokens and NFTs without deploying contracts. That choice reduces audit scope and operational risk. Define custom fees as fixed, fractional, or royalty fees. The network enforces them during transfers. Fee schedule updates require a dedicated key. Interact with tokens from Solidity via system contracts. Or use SDKs directly in back-end services.

Smart Contract Service (EVM)

Deploy Solidity unchanged. Use Hardhat, Foundry, or Truffle. Connect MetaMask to a JSON-RPC endpoint. The open-source relay implements standard EVM JSON-RPC. You can self-host or use providers. Contracts can call the HTS system contracts for mint, burn, or transfer. This pattern keeps ERC logic lean.

Consensus Service (HCS)

Publish fairly ordered, timestamped messages to topics. Build audit trails, logs, and IoT event streams. Consume events from mirror nodes using REST or gRPC. Design downstream pipelines for analytics or alerts.

File Service

Store small configuration artifacts and bytecode. Keep references simple and durable on the ledger.

Governance, Council, and Staking

Governance model

A Governing Council of up to 39 organizations stewards the network. Council members guide policy and operate nodes. The model aims for decentralization and stability.

Staking overview

Hedera uses a native proof-of-stake model with account-level staking, allowing any account to stake to a node or another account. There are currently no lock-ups or slashing mechanisms in place. Staking rewards are distributed once the network reward account reaches a set threshold—currently 250 million HBAR—determined by the Hedera Council. Rewards continue to accrue until you manually trigger a distribution. However, if you go more than 365 days without triggering, you can only claim rewards from the most recent 365 days, so it's important to plan your claim cadence accordingly.

Fees, Finality, and Performance

Hedera publishes a transparent fee schedule along with a live fee estimator that prices actions in both USD and HBAR, using real-time exchange rates. This allows developers to plan costs accurately, even at scale. Finality on the network is deterministic, eliminating the need for applications to model probabilistic rollbacks—simplifying both risk management and the user experience. The community openly shares its method for calculating transactions per second (TPS) from mirror node data, including code examples. To ensure fair access under high load, the network uses throttling mechanisms. Applications should be designed to handle BUSY responses gracefully, implementing retry logic with exponential backoff.

Sidebar: Map common actions to fees

Account creation, token create or mint, topic submit, and contract call. Use the estimator to budget by action and volume.

Accounts, Keys, and Addressing

Hedera accounts support both ED25519 and ECDSA (secp256k1) keys, allowing you to choose based on your tooling preferences and security requirements. For more user-friendly interactions, Hedera supports aliases—EVM-compatible addresses derived from the Keccak-256 hash of an ECDSA public key, using the rightmost 20 bytes. HIP-583 enhances this by expanding ECDSA alias support, enabling Ethereum-style workflows and smoother wallet experiences. For advanced control, you can use key lists and threshold keys to require N-of-M signatures for sensitive operations, adding an extra layer of security.

Security, Privacy, and Compliance Notes

Hashgraph consensus offers formal asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT) guarantees, with deterministic finality that simplifies operations for payments, logging, and business workflows. The whitepapers detail core concepts like virtual voting and fairness—valuable resources to share with security reviewers. Once consensus is reached, your application can safely commit business logic without rollback concerns. For ESG and digital Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (dMRV) use cases, the Guardian framework provides a robust foundation, encoding policies and verifying claims with on-chain evidence.

Networks and Tooling

Mainnet, testnet, and previewnet

Use testnet and previewnet for development and QA, as they closely mirror mainnet features, fees, and throttling behavior. This ensures that migrations to mainnet require minimal changes. Since mainnet enforces throttles during sustained load, your application should be designed to handle BUSY responses gracefully and respect defined rate limits.

EVM tooling and RPC

Use the open-source JSON-RPC relay for EVM workflows. You can self-host or choose managed relays. Hashio offers public endpoints for experimentation. For production, select providers with SLAs and monitoring.

SDKs and docs

Follow official docs for API references and tutorials. Use language SDKs for JavaScript, Java, and more.

Enterprise Use Cases and Patterns

Payments and settlement

Use transfers with predictable fees and fast finality. Model micro-payment flows and B2B settlement without gas volatility.

Tokenization programs

Issue assets natively with HTS. Map business logic to protocol-level fee schedules and roles. Reduce custom code and audits.

Supply chain event logging

Publish events to HCS for trusted ordering. Subscribe from mirrors to feed analytics and alerts.

ESG and sustainability registries

Use Guardian to encode methodologies and attestations. Build verifiable, auditable evidence chains.

Pattern card: Hybrid app with off-chain data and HCS anchors

Collect high-volume data off-chain. Submit digests and events to a topic. Use mirror APIs for investigators and dashboards.

Pattern card: EVM dApp with HTS system calls

Write ERC-style contracts. Call HTS system contracts for mint and transfer. Keep Solidity simple and auditable.

Comparisons and Positioning

Hedera provides deterministic finality at the base layer, unlike many EVM Layer 1s that rely on probabilistic or gadget-based finality. This distinction is important when modeling risk. While rollups often depend on a sequencer and external data availability, Hedera delivers native services on a unified public state. When evaluating Layer 2 solutions, consider operator and data availability risks. Permissioned stacks can meet privacy requirements but often compromise public verifiability. In contrast, Hedera maintains transparency through public governance and clear controls. Use the official papers to brief stakeholders on these architectural trade-offs.

Decision Aids for Buyers

Fit checklist

If you need native token controls and protocol-enforced fees, the Hedera Token Service (HTS) is the right fit. For fair timestamps and append-only event trails, the Hedera Consensus Service (HCS) meets those requirements. If your goal is to reuse Solidity, existing tools, and EVM expertise, the JSON-RPC path on Hedera lowers migration risk and streamlines onboarding.

Risk checklist

Plan your RPC strategy by comparing self-hosted relays and managed options. Define SLAs, observability, and mirror data retention policies. Choose providers or host mirrors with monitoring. Budget fees for HTS operations and contracts using the fee estimator. Design for throttles and BUSY responses with retries that include jitter and backoff.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions and answers about Hedera, their implementation, and practical considerations for businesses and developers.

Hedera FAQ

Hedera is a public DLT that uses hashgraph. It reaches consensus with aBFT and virtual voting.

Yes. The Smart Contract Service runs EVM bytecode. You deploy with standard tools over JSON-RPC.

Yes. HTS supports NFTs and protocol-level royalties. You configure fixed, fractional, or royalty fees.

Use the fee schedule and estimator to plan in USD and pay in HBAR. Model per-call and volume costs.

Use mirror node REST and gRPC APIs. Many providers offer production endpoints.

A Governing Council of up to 39 organizations stewards the network. Members guide policy and operation.

Guardian enables auditable ESG and dMRV programs. It encodes policy logic and verifies claims on-chain.

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Hedera Hashgraph