Before we get into what Hashgraph is, let's talk about what a blockchain is.
A blockchain, simply put, is a chain of blocks sequentially linked together. Therefore, each block is directly connected to two other blocks, one before and one after.
Specifically, in Bitcoin, there is a proof-of-work mechanism for any miner who wants to publish a block to build it and use a significant amount of computational resources to show that it is trustworthy.
Furthermore, this mechanism guarantees that only one block is published every ten minutes. Ethereum also follows a similar procedure, but a new block can be released every few seconds.
Here, when two miners publish a block at the same time, by consensus on the network, only one block will be accepted. Thus wasting the efforts and energy of the miner left out because he would not receive the block reward – an incentive to keep miners working
Read too: TOP: websites for mining cryptocurrencies
Hashgraph overcome this problem. It allows any number of blocks to be published at a time. Also, it does not use proof-of-work mechanism.
This means faster transaction confirmation – for which Bitcoin is condemned for being slow. However, the implementation of Lightning Network can change Bitcoin's scaling problem.
Hashgraph alone it is a data structure plus a consensus algorithm. In other words, it defines how data should be stored, retrieved and managed; and specifies how a distributed network under your implementation should work.
Unlike many cryptocurrency projects, which are mostly open source and completely free, Hashgraph is an intellectual property of swirls
, a platform built for distributed applications.
However, Bitcoin's free-to-use nature has given rise to many famous projects: Ethereum, Litecoin and Zcash, all starting by using Bitcoin's code base and adding extra features.
Hedera Hashgraph HBAR
An open platform like Ethereum is being built using Hashgraph, which is nothing more than Hedera Hashgraph and HBAR currency. The platform will have three types of services to offer: cryptocurrency, file storage, smart contracts.
Anyone can use the platform for free and without restrictions. You can keep a full node and get paid for it; however, it is necessary to apply some funds.
In Hashgraph, a node stores only the balances of non-empty addresses. This way, storing large amounts of transactional data will not be necessary.
Read too: TOP: sites to earn free cryptocurrencies
Conclusion
Hashgraph is an innovative technology in the cryptocurrency space. Despite this, it is not open and not everyone can try the algorithm.
Bitcoin and Ethereum have been around for a long time, and their reputation has been put to the test several times. That said, Hashgraph isn't used much in the real world yet. Only then can we know how better it is. Otherwise, it would be great technology without being an effective problem solver.