Hedera is designed and built to provide a fast and secure platform for decentralised applications (dApps). It has its own native cryptocurrency also called Hedera (HBAR) which gets used to pay for transactions, smart contracts and security. This article explores why this might be useful.
Hedera is a hashgraph-based technology that uses a directed acyclic graph (DAG) and a gossip protocol to achieve faster transaction speeds and better energy efficiency. Users can access services including smart contracts, tokenisation and identity management.
It’s an emergent example of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that uses hashgraph consensus, as opposed to established blockchain tech, to facilitate and record transactions. The ‘gossip protocol’ communicates between parts of the network and arrives at a consensus on transactions.
As a public, open-source network, it’s designed and built to provide a fast and secure platform for decentralised applications (dApps). The Hedera platform has its own native cryptocurrency also called Hedera (HBAR) which gets used to pay for transactions, smart contracts and security.
HBAR also protects the network by facilitating ‘proof of stake’ through weighted voting, which makes it expensive and difficult for outside influences to affect internal consensus.
Hedera is distributed across a network of independent computers known as ‘nodes’ and uses a technology called Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (ABFT) for extra security. ABFT is effectively an algorithm that governs the consensus, allowing ‘honest’ nodes to agree that a transaction has happened, even if some nodes aren’t working properly.
The decentralised governance element of Hedera is very important too. It has a governing council of 39 member institutions and organisations including Google, Dell and Ubisoft. As of October 2025, HBAR has a market cap of $7.15bn and a circulating supply of 42.41bn from a total supply of 50bn.
There are two potential reasons to buy and hold Hedera; speculation on the value of the coin and owning the coin to participate in the Hedera ecosystem as a developer.
Hedera is an interesting example of a coin that offers a range of utility to the underlying ecosystem. And the ecosystem has potential mass appeal as a piece of infrastructure for alternative finance and associated processes, like tokenisation and identity services.
However, as of October 2025, due to the value of the coin the Hedera ecosystem appears to be optimised for liquidity rather than value growth of the coin itself. On the one hand, this means Hedera will potentially not become volatile, because there’s a 7.51bn surplus of coins.
But with this in mind, it would take an extremely large increase in demand for the coins themselves to become scarce enough to start increasing significantly in value.
Hedera is, however, uniquely positioned as an enterprise-grade DLT and stands to potentially benefit from mainstream adoption of public DLTs. The question is not about whether Hedera will win the race for DLT dominance, but whether public DLTs themselves will win the race for mainstream adoption or large institutions will opt for building their own private ledgers.
The coin and the ecosystem also have potential uses for traceability in supply chains, micropayments and non-fungible token (NFT) trading.
Buying Hedera in Australia is simple. Follow these steps to start your HBAR journey:
To buy Hedera, you’ll need a trusted platform. Look for ease of use, strong security, transparent fees and features like recurring purchases.
You can:
Sign up on your chosen platform with a secure password and enable two-factor authentication (2FA). Complete identity verification (KYC) by submitting a government-issued ID, which is a standard process to ensure compliance and account protection.
Before buying HBAR, deposit funds into your account:
Once your account is funded:
After buying HBAR, you can choose between different wallets:
Learn more about opening a crypto trading account
Like all crypto assets, Hedera may be a good fit for some and not for others. It’s all about finding the right digital asset to match your risk appetite, financial goals and personal circumstances.
Strengths
Weaknesses
As with all crypto, the first thing to know is that the value of any asset can quickly increase or decrease. And all assets of this nature can lose money as well as gain it.
Thinking about Hedera specifically, it’s worth bearing in mind that it remains a relatively niche asset. So it’s very important to do your own research to understand its potential and as something that provides in-demand utility.
Given its status as a relatively niche asset, Hedera may be something of a longer term strategy, as demand for the coin remains low relative to more popular options like Bitcoin.
If you’re unsure whether buying crypto is right for you, sit tight and monitor the price. While this may mean you potentially miss out if the price rapidly increases, you’ll at least be able to see how volatile it is in a short term window.
If the price movements and direction align with your financial goals, it may be worth purchasing. But it bears repeating, crypto can be quite volatile, especially compared to more mainstream assets like bonds and shares.
Purchasing should never be a big gamble. Only buy what you can afford to lose, and take a long term approach. Remain patient and avoid the temptation to buy or sell on the back of price movements.
By starting small, you can manage the financial risks of buying with a little more control. Going ‘all in’ at the start of your journey is not a good strategy. By keeping purchases modest, it’s possible that you’ll learn as you go and develop a deeper understanding of the crypto markets and asset markets more generally.
Rather than purchasing individual assets separately, users can look into pre-curated token bundles to explore multiple digital asset sectors simultaneously.
Hedera’s price will vary according to a range of influences, including demand from within the ecosystem, interest from buyers, liquidity and adoption of Hedera as an element of mainstream financial infrastructure.
One of the main factors affecting price in the short term is likely to be use of the coin within the developer community. As of October 2025, its primary use is as a voting token and payment method for developers.
In the medium term, demand for distributed ledger technology will likely have an influence on the price of HBAR. This will vary depending on HBAR’s position as a leading example of that kind of technology. Demand for DLTs to support things like identity services, alternative payments and file storage will be something to watch.
There remains no specific consensus on HBAR’s long term fortunes. It’s a relatively niche ‘altcoin’, albeit with mainstream potential. However, analysts do appear optimistic about the future of DLT and the ways Hedera may benefit.
One interesting development in particular would suggest the broader fortunes of DLT could be worth watching. In October 2025, the Bank of England, the central bank for England, reported that it had been running an experiment to test the performance of DLTs.
Hedera was one of the participating technologies. This could be a positive sign. According to a Bank spokesperson: “If new technologies, such as DLT, become widely used in wholesale settlement, ensuring compatibility with central bank money is important to maintain trust and stability in the financial system.”
About the experiment, analyst Ahmed Ziyad writing for 99 Bitcoins said: “The Bank of England is officially committing to exploring DLT innovation, and Hedera’s inclusion is a big deal. It could play out really well for Hedera, especially with institutional interest in crypto heating up lately.”
Steve Taylor, writing for crypto blog Changelly.com is optimistic about the short term performance of Hedera, predicting modest price increases.
Crypto assets are highly volatile and you may lose some or all of your investment.
It’s an alternative to blockchain used for a range of things, including DLTs, facilitating identity services, smart contracts, payments, voting and decentralised apps. Like a lot of cryptocurrency, it can also be used as a store of value and buyers may speculate on its performance.
This depends on your specific financial goals, financial situation and your understanding of the underlying technology and ecosystem. HBAR remains a relatively niche asset with high liquidity. And while some analysts are optimistic about the future, any purchase can lose value. Never buy more than you can afford to lose.
Buying it through a trusted, centralised platform that is voluntarily compliant with a range of global regulations, like Crypto.com, can be a good starting point. Platforms like Crypto.com implement strict security measures and are registered to comply with applicable local requirements. But no purchase is 100% risk free.
While it’s possible that Hedera may increase significantly in value, your financial strategy should never be based on this assumption. It is also possible that Hedera does not increase in value or loses value. Buying Hedera, like any crypto purchase, may result in a financial loss or gain.
Hedera offers a degree of utility to developers working within the Ethereum ecosystem. It also has potential applications outside of Ethereum, such as providing distributed ledger technology services to mainstream financial services providers and central banks. It also has potential as a standalone DLT with uses outside of finance.
* Other transaction fees and spread may apply
Important information: This content is general informational material sponsored by Foris DAX Pty Ltd (trading as Crypto.com) and is intended strictly for educational purposes. It does not constitute financial product advice, an investment recommendation, or a solicitation to trade. Digital assets are highly volatile, completely unregulated as financial products in Australia, and involve a high risk of capital loss; you may lose some or all of your initial principal. Digital asset accounts are not traditional banking products and are explicitly not protected by the Australian Government’s Financial Claims Scheme (FCS). Consider your personal risk appetite and seek independent financial advice before participating.
