Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) blockchain

Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) is an open source network that can validate transactions much faster via a new consensus mechanism and where transaction costs will be only a few cents. HBAR is capable of innovating the entire blockchain technology.

What is HBAR?
HBAR is also called the blockchain killer. HBAR is the third generation blockchain with a decentralized and distributed network that is completely different from the blockchains we know today. HBAR uses specific validation and security algorithms that are many times more efficient than those currently used in blockchains. HBAR implements its ledger of transactions on hashgraph technology rather than on the blockchain. 

What is Hashgraph?
Hashgraph is the proprietary network used by HBAR. The difference with normal blockchains is that HBAR does not use blockchain technology. It uses a DAG structure. This has many advantages over current blockchains.

How does HBAR work?
Hedera's network is currently the only protocol that uses Hashgraph - the alternative consensus mechanism. The goal is to validate transactions faster and more efficiently with network security at its core. This will help prevent attacks from the outside, as well as the inside.

HBAR, as mentioned, makes use of the DAG. This stands for Directed Acyclic Graph and means that there is no linear structure, as there is with blockchain technology. In blockchain technology, each transaction is validated and recorded in a block. Subsequent transactions are again validated and recorded in a next block that is connected to the previous block. Each block builds on the previous one. The DAG allows data and information sources to move in the network in different ways - different portals. HBAR makes use of the GOSSIP technique.

Gossip Protocol
What spreads better than gossip? That's what the developers of HBAR had thought. This is an excellent way to capture information. Instead of the rigid and time-consuming technology like the blockchain, the gossip protocol is based on the DAG structure. There is no linear structure. The nodes are located all over the network.
When certain information is captured, it is observed by the node and automatically passed on to the next node. That tells it again to another node and so on.

Suppose I go on a world trip. Right after booking the trip I call my mother and tell her. This information is then bundled into a single transaction, including the timestamp. Then my mother calls my father to tell him the news. Then I call my sister to tell her I am going on a world trip who has also already received this info from my father. This form of information transfer is more dynamic and faster than the original blockchain. With the regular blockchain, the transaction has to go to all the nodes who have to validate the transaction individually. This takes a long time and is inefficient.

With the gossip technique, information can be recorded and sent much faster. With the regular blockchain, it takes a long time for that transaction to be verified. It sometimes takes up to 10 minutes for the transaction to be fully completed. This is also one of the reasons why the ordinary blockchain could not be used as a payment in daily life.

Consensus Algorithm: Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT)
Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) will require all nodes in the network to agree on a particular transaction.  

The network consists of all kinds of nodes, which contribute to the network by checking and validating transactions. If 51% of the network verifies a block, it is included in the blockchain. There is no optimal security here. Nodes can still be malicious. HBAR wants to improve this security and uses the Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT).

By using the gossip technique, messages are propagated throughout the network at a rapid rate. However, if multiple transactions are sent in the network, it is important to know which one was sent first. Thanks to the aBFT consensus algorithm, timestamps are added to each transaction. This way, the protocol knows who received what message and when. From this they take an average, in order to subsequently determine a sequence of all messages.

Each message contains two hashes. One hash for the last received message and the other for their last sent message. This makes the order of the information flow clear. This is because the hashes are unique per message. With this, the developers claim that they can achieve consensus that is almost 100% secure, unlike other consensus algorithms. In the other consensus algorithms, only one hash is used, not two.

When a decentralized network is Byzantine fault tolerant, it means that the honest members, or nodes, of a network can be guaranteed to agree on the timing and order (consensus) of a set of transactions. Regardless as to whether there are some nodes maliciously trying to prevent that consensus — even if as many as 1/3 of nodes are trying to negatively affect consensus by delaying transactions or otherwise corrupting things. This is the ‘fault tolerance’ of the network, meaning how many nodes can the network tolerate acting maliciously, but still come to an honest consensus.

The ‘asynchronous’ property of Byzantine fault tolerance overcomes a challenge of fault tolerance, which is that of timing. Many forms of Byzantine fault tolerance assume there is a maximum threshold of message latency when coming to a consensus. An asynchronous byzantine fault tolerant (ABFT) network eliminates this assumption and allows for some messages to be lost or indefinitely delayed.

An ABFT network allows for messages to be lost or indefinitely delayed and assumes only that at some point an honest node’s messages will eventually get through. It is much more challenging for an honest node to assess whether another node is not following the rules, if that node’s messages can be indeterminately delayed, but this scenario much better reflects that network reliability in the real world.

Governing Council
The Hedera network also has a governing council. To ensure diversity and stability, Hedera's governing council is supported by a board of 39 organizations that together represent 19 industries around the world. There are a number of leading companies such as LG, IBM, and Google. who ensure that no malpractice occurs. When a council member wants to make a change, it will be consulted with the governing council.
The question can be asked how decentralized the network is now, now that there is a governing council that has a lot of power and can determine a lot about the network. This may detract from a core characteristic of blockchain, which is decentralization. This will deter many people from investing in HBAR because it is not as decentralized as regular blockchain. After the FTX Debacle, a lot of people are anxious to invest in a centralized organization.