Original title: (Applying for a spot ETF, with a monthly increase of over 104%, what is HBAR's background?)

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 an increase of over 104% in the past month, with the price returning to the levels of November 2021.

Hedera blockchain was launched back in 2019. On November 13 this year, the crypto investment firm Canary Capital submitted an HBAR ETF application to the U.S. 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; many crypto players who entered the market during this bull run have not even heard of the project.

So, what exactly is the Hedera blockchain? What other reasons are behind HBAR's price surge? Odaily Planet Daily will provide a brief introduction and analysis of Hedera in this article.

Introduction to Hedera

Hedera is a decentralized open-source proof-of-stake public blockchain, whose underlying technology uses a leaderless, asynchronous Byzantine (ABFT) Hashgraph consensus algorithm. According to data from its official website, the consensus finality of the Hedera blockchain takes only 2.9 seconds, with an average transaction cost of 0.0001 USD, and the network has low energy consumption, with an average energy consumption per transaction as low as 0.000003 kWh, compared to Solana's energy consumption being 170 times higher.

Developers can leverage 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 origins, IoT sensor data, and more.

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 like Google, Dell, and abrdn.

HBAR is the native token of the Hedera blockchain, used as network fees and a staking token for 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 cap of 13.28 billion USD, ranking 19th in the crypto market cap.

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

What are the reasons for HBAR's price surge?

As the price of HBAR increased, the market generally attributed the main reason to the positive impact 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 token price increase triggered by news does not last long. On November 26, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart also stated that the SEC's resolution regarding SOL, XRP, LTC, and HBAR ETFs may extend until the end of 2025.

With positive news landing, the actual approval of the ETF is still far off. We originally thought that HBAR's price would recede, but it remains in an upward trend, having returned to the levels of the bull market in November 2021. Therefore, Odaily Planet Daily summarizes the following four reasons:

The emergence of altcoin ETFs has led to HBAR being undervalued compared to other tokens.

Currently, with the emergence of altcoin ETFs, applications for SOL, XRP, LTC, and HBAR ETFs have been submitted one after another. Meanwhile, according to ETF Store President Nate Geraci, at least one issuer is currently attempting an ETF application 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's token increase of 104% far surpasses them, HBAR's market cap remains relatively low, still ranking behind DOT at 19th place.

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

Thus, as one of the few altcoins currently receiving institutional support and filing for ETF applications, investors may believe that the HBAR token is undervalued and still has significant growth potential.

HBAR board members are expected to become the next chairman of the U.S. SEC.

With Trump about to take office, the next chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also a focus of 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 of winning.

If Brian Brooks is successfully nominated by Trump as the next chairman of the U.S. SEC, it will not only mean that the U.S. SEC may become more pro-crypto but will also be a huge benefit for HBAR. This expectation is also maintaining the upward trend of HBAR prices.

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

Developing with the tailwind of the RWA sector

Currently, the RWA sector is also gradually revitalizing, with institutions increasing their investments in RWA. 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 for well-known companies like Dovu, abrdn, and Shinban Bank.

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

Korean market FOMO

In terms of trading volume, HBAR is also experiencing FOMO in the Korean market. According to CoinGecko data, the largest 24-hour trading volume on South Korea's largest exchange Upbit is XRP, with a trading volume exceeding 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. Meanwhile, compared to Binance, HBAR's 24-hour trading volume on Binance exceeds 1.289 billion USD, which is less than Upbit.

Meanwhile, on another South Korean exchange, Bithumb, HBAR's 24-hour trading volume reached 1.43 billion USD, not only surpassing the trading volume of BTC on this platform but also 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 of HBAR.

With the arrival of the altcoin season, old tokens can also rejuvenate

Trends are always unstoppable. Over the past year, altcoins have underperformed, first falling into the controversy of 'high valuations and low circulation' with VC coins, then facing the phenomenon of BTC hitting new highs while the altcoin market remained sluggish, and finally confronting the impact of meme coins running rampant. Even seasoned figures in the crypto industry, like Cobo co-founder and CEO Shen Yu, 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 Odaily Planet Daily's analysis by Nan Zhi, the funding rates are in a safe zone, and the market share of altcoins is already close to the starting point of the first launch in 2021. (Related reading: Looking back at market data from the past four years, which stage of the bull market are we currently in?)

The market is accustomed to seeking reasons for price increases; HBAR may just be a microcosm, representing perhaps that even 'old tokens' can dizzy market players during a true altcoin season. Instead of lamenting, why not join the trend?

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