Hedera Cofounder Explains How Hashgraph Technology Will Power Web3 Economy

TLDR:

• Hashgraph processes transactions in parallel, delivering faster speeds and better security than traditional blockchain. 
• Over 30 Fortune 500 organizations exclusively run Hedera nodes, creating a power-in-numbers security approach. 
• Lloyds Banking Group achieved industry firsts using tokenized assets as collateral for foreign exchange trades. 
• Hedera’s technology enables micropayments below one penny, preparing infrastructure for AI agent commerce.
  

Hedera cofounder Mance Harmon outlined how hashgraph technology could transform digital commerce during the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos.

The distributed ledger platform aims to achieve “invisible ubiquity” as foundational infrastructure for Web3 applications.

Harmon compared Hedera’s future role to internet protocols that operate seamlessly in the background. The GENIUS Act’s passage in 2025 has created new regulatory clarity for stablecoin technology.

Hashgraph Offers Alternative Approach to Distributed Consensus

Hedera operates on hashgraph technology rather than traditional blockchain architecture. Dr. Leemon Baird invented the hashgraph as an alternative solution for distributed consensus.

While blockchain adds information blocks sequentially to a single chain, hashgraph processes data in parallel within a graph structure.

This parallel processing approach delivers faster transaction speeds and greater efficiency. “What my cofounder Dr. Leemon Baird invented was a better solution for a distributed consensus than blockchain,” Harmon said. “Hashgraph solves the same category problems as blockchain, but it does it in a far more secure and efficient and performant way.”

The platform serves as infrastructure for Web3 applications across various sectors. Harmon noted that any smartphone application consuming cloud services could operate in a Web3 context. The hashgraph enables increased security and trust levels for these applications.

Regulatory changes are unlocking demand for distributed ledger applications. “Demand is being unlocked with a new regulatory environment, especially in the United States, with the GENIUS Act being passed,” Harmon said.

The act established the first comprehensive framework for stablecoins in the United States. Market infrastructure legislation is also progressing through the regulatory pipeline.

Governance Model Prioritizes Security Through Institutional Oversight

Hedera’s governance structure differs from typical public blockchain networks. More than 30 global Fortune 500-equivalent organizations exclusively operate nodes on the network. This contrasts with permissionless blockchains that allow anyone to run nodes.

These organizations form the Hedera Council, which governs network operations and evolution. The Council organizes into committees overseeing regulatory matters, membership, and technical steering. Decisions about network development occur through a voting system among Council members.

The governance model embeds trust into the technology’s foundation. Hedera avoids reliance on a single organization as arbiter of network operations. The multi-organizational structure creates a power-in-numbers approach to security.

Attackers would need to compromise a majority of Council organizations to damage the network. “How many times have you gotten a letter saying that your information has been compromised because they’ve been hacked?” Harmon asked.

“In this case, an attacker has to attack and successfully compromise a majority of those organizations to be able to damage us.”

Financial Services Lead Tokenization and Payment Innovation

Financial services firms are early adopters of Hedera’s technology. Banks work with crypto exchanges to tokenize money market funds on the platform. These tokenized funds can serve as collateral for foreign exchange trades.

Tokenization converts assets into digital representations that move efficiently through markets. “We can instantaneously skip settlement and clearing and go straight to atomic swaps—delivery versus payment—in one fell swoop,” Harmon explained.

“One transaction in a fraction of a second.” The technology enables instantaneous settlement in certain cases.

Lloyds Banking Group and Aberdeen Investments achieved industry firsts using Hedera in the United Kingdom. They utilized tokenized money market fund units and U.K. gilts as collateral for FX trades. The FCA-regulated exchange Archax facilitated these transactions.

Manufacturing applications include assigning digital twins to raw materials for supply chain efficiency. “The whole world is going to be tokenized, and it’s going to be led by the financial services industry,” Harmon said. The technology demonstrates practical benefits for regulated asset movement.

Agentic Commerce Requires Micropayment Infrastructure

Artificial intelligence agents will participate in the token economy at massive scale. “There are going to be far more agents in the world than there are humans, by orders of magnitude,” Harmon said.

“Those agents are going to engage in commerce, and those agents are going to need the ability to make decisions and transfer value among themselves.”

Value transfers between agents will surpass current economic transaction volumes. “Normal payment systems don’t work well if you’re talking about transferring value that’s a fraction of a U.S. penny,” Harmon noted. “With the efficiencies and the technology that we have, we can transfer fractions of a cent efficiently.”

Micropayments could enable new revenue models similar to single song purchases. Reducing economic units to basic levels creates additional value flows. Agents need infrastructure that handles both increased volume and smaller payment sizes.

Hedera prepares for agentic payment growth as Web3 adoption expands. “It’s very exciting to be able to be on the leading edge and lead the world into the next iteration of finance,” Harmon said. T

he platform positions itself as foundational infrastructure for next-generation finance.

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