Hedera Hashgraph blockchain goes live with 26 dApps

Hedera Hashgraph, a new public blockchain network that claims to be faster than Ethereum and Bitcoin networks, has launched its mainnet beta for the general public. The network had previously been in a closed beta mode with access to select developers.

Announcing the news on Monday, Hedera said the network can support up to 10,000 transactions per second, compared to 15 for Ethereum and 2.8 per second for Bitcoin. Hedera also offers smart contract and file services, and both are currently throttled to 10 transactions per second. The firm plans to increase speed “methodically throughout the remainder of 2019,” it said.

Amongst the 26 decentralized applications (dApps) to go live on the Hedera network are AdsDax, a decentralized advertising platform, which claims to have already conducted over 2 million transactions in 10 days; Chainlink, which will provide Hedera-based applications with “reliable oracles” and connectivity to off-chain data; and drug development consultancy Certara, aiming to provide “advanced analytics and demonstrate data provenance on health-related transactions.”

"We welcome developers globally to build decentralized applications on our platform, and are excited to see what they will build," said Dr. Leemon Baird, co-founder and chief scientist of Hedera Hashgraph. "With Open Access, our council members have also begun running nodes." The governing council of Hedera includes blue-chip companies such as IBM, Boeing, Deutsche Telekom, Tata and Nomura, among others.