Original title: (Applying for a spot ETF, with a monthly increase of over 104%, what is the story behind HBAR?)

Original author: Golem, Odaily Planet Daily

Today, the native token HBAR of the L1 blockchain Hedera broke through 0.38 USDT, reaching a high of 0.39 USDT, with a 24-hour increase of over 40% and a monthly increase of over 104%, returning to the level seen in November 2021.

The Hedera blockchain was launched in 2019. On November 13 of this year, the crypto investment firm Canary Capital submitted an HBAR ETF application to the US SEC. Compared to the massive attention and discussion triggered by the ETF applications of SOL, XRP, and LTC, HBAR's popularity has always been lower, and many crypto players who entered the market during this bull cycle have even never heard of this project.

So, what exactly is the story behind the Hedera blockchain? What other reasons are there behind the surge in HBAR prices? Odaily Planet Daily will briefly introduce and analyze Hedera in this article.

Introduction to Hedera

Hedera is a decentralized, open-source proof-of-stake public blockchain, using a leaderless, asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (ABFT) Hashgraph consensus algorithm at its technical base. According to its official website data, the finality of consensus on the Hedera blockchain only takes 2.9 seconds, with an average transaction cost of 0.0001 USD, and the network has low energy consumption, with an average energy consumption of only 0.000003 kWh per transaction, in contrast to Solana, which requires 170 times that energy.

Developers can utilize the Hedera blockchain for real asset tokenization, building DeFi and NFT ecosystems, creating decentralized identities, and using native consensus timestamps to create low-cost, scalable, and publicly verifiable data logs—recording paid events, supply chain sources, IoT sensor data, etc.

The Hedera blockchain is managed by a board and the Hedera Governing Council, which consists of up to 39 term-limited and highly diverse leading organizations and companies, including well-known companies and institutions such as Google, Dell, and abrdn.

HBAR is the native token of the Hedera blockchain, used for network fees and as a staking token in the POS mechanism. The total supply of HBAR is 50 billion tokens, with a current circulating supply of over 38.19 billion tokens, and a circulating market value of 13.28 billion USD, ranking 19th in the crypto market.

Up to this point, Hedera gives the impression of being just a conventional old L1.

What other reasons are there for the surge in HBAR prices?

As HBAR token prices rose, the market generally attributed the main reason to the favorable news of the HBAR ETF application submitted by Canary Capital on November 13, with HBAR rising over 30% on the day the news was announced.

Generally speaking, the price increase of tokens triggered by news does not last long. On November 26, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart also indicated that the SEC's decision regarding SOL, XRP, LTC, and HBAR ETFs may be extended until the end of 2025.

As the favorable news materializes, the actual ETF approval remains a long way off. We initially thought that HBAR prices would drop as a result. However, HBAR prices are still on an upward trend, having returned to the levels seen in the bull market of November 2021. Therefore, Odaily Planet Daily summarizes the following four reasons:

As altcoin ETFs emerge, HBAR is undervalued compared to other tokens.

Currently, altcoin ETFs are emerging, with applications for SOL, XRP, LTC, and HBAR ETFs being submitted successively. Meanwhile, according to Nate Geraci, president of ETF Store, at least one issuer is attempting to apply for an ETF for ADA (Cardano) or AVAX (Avalanche). Although in the past month, compared to the increases of 40%, 32%, and 25% for SOL, XRP, and LTC respectively, HBAR token's increase of 104% far exceeds them, HBAR's market capitalization remains low, even ranking only 19th behind DOT.

In fact, before Canary Capital submitted the HBAR ETF application, Canary Capital had already launched the HBAR Trust in the US in October, specifically serving qualified individual and institutional investors. Steven McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital and former Chief Investment Officer of Valkyrie Funds, also stated that this move is also to pave the way for the future launch of the HBAR ETF.

Therefore, as one of the few altcoins currently supported by institutions and submitting ETF applications, investors may think that the HBAR token is undervalued and still has significant growth potential.

HBAR board members are expected to become the next SEC Chairman.

With Trump about to take office, the next chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also receiving a lot of attention from the crypto market, and HBAR board member Brian Brooks is also one of the potential candidates for the next SEC chairman. According to prediction market Kalshi data, although former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins from the George W. Bush administration has a 70% chance of winning, Brian Brooks still has a 20% chance.

If Brian Brooks is successfully nominated by Trump as the next SEC Chairman, it would not only mean that the SEC may become more crypto-friendly, but it would also be a significant boon for HBAR. This expectation is maintaining the upward trend of HBAR prices.

According to FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, sources revealed that Trump is expected to announce the nominee to succeed Gary Gensler as the new SEC chairman as early as tomorrow. This answer is believed to be revealed soon. (Note from BlockBeats: Trump announced Paul Atkins as his nominee for SEC Chairman on December 4, but sources indicated that Paul Atkins is unwilling to take the position.)

Leveraging the tailwind of the RWA sector

Currently, the RWA sector is also gradually rejuvenating, with institutions increasing their investment in RWA. The stablecoin issuer Tether launched the asset tokenization platform Hadron by Tether on November 14, and Visa launched the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP). The Hedera blockchain is also actively developing RWA; according to Hedera's official data, the value of assets tokenized through the Hedera blockchain has reached 50 million USD, having provided tokenization services to well-known companies such as Dovu, abrdn, and Shinban Bank.

Steven McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital and former Chief Investment Officer of Valkyrie Funds, also stated that Hedera embodies the type of enterprise technology that connects cryptocurrency with real-world scalability, and that the application of this technology is expected to grow further.

Korean market FOMO

From the trading volume perspective, HBAR is also experiencing FOMO in the Korean market. According to CoinGecko data, the largest trading volume on South Korea's largest exchange, Upbit, is XRP, with a trading volume of over 5.372 billion USD; followed by HBAR, with a 24-hour trading volume exceeding 1.353 billion USD, which is three times that of BTC. Compared to Binance, HBAR's 24-hour trading volume on Binance exceeded 1.289 billion USD, which is lower than Upbit.

At the same time, on another Korean exchange, Bithumb, the 24-hour trading volume of HBAR reached 1.43 billion USD, which not only exceeded the trading volume of BTC on this platform but was even higher than the 24-hour trading volume of HBAR on Upbit.

It can be seen that the Korean market is not only a major buying market for XRP but also a major buyer for HBAR.

The altcoin season is here, and old tokens can also rejuvenate

Trends are always unstoppable. Over the past year, altcoins have performed poorly, first getting caught in the controversy of VC tokens being 'overvalued with low circulation' and massive unlocks, then facing the phenomenon of BTC continuously hitting new highs while the altcoin market remains sluggish, and finally having to deal with the impact of meme coins running rampant. Even senior figures in the crypto industry, like Cobo co-founder and CEO Shen Yu, had previously asserted that 'there is no altcoin season in this cycle.'

As a result, the rotation of sectors 'though late, has arrived,' and the altcoin season has ultimately come. According to analysis by Odaily Planet Daily, the funding rate is in a safe zone, and the market share of altcoins is approaching the initial starting point of 2021. (Related reading: Looking back at the market data of the past four years, at which stage of the bull market are we now?)

The market is used to seeking reasons for price increases, and HBAR may just be a microcosm representing that perhaps even 'old tokens' can cause dizzying rises during a real altcoin season. Instead of lamenting, it might be better to join the trend.

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