Is Hedera Still Active? A Deep Dive into Transaction Metrics, Gas Economics, and Network Activity in 2024

Hedera is a public, open-source, proof-of-stake network known for its unique consensus mechanism. It offers a range of features including native tokens, predictable fees, and high transaction fairness. In this blog, we will examine Hedera from the following aspects using Bitquery Hedera APIs:

• Price

• Transaction Metrics: Volume, TPS (Transactions Per Second), etc.

• Transaction Success and Failures: Different transaction methods

• Network Growth

• Gas Economics

Let's dive into each of these aspects to gain a comprehensive understanding of Hedera's performance and prospects.

HBAR Price Trends

Current Price: As of the latest data, the current price of HBAR is around $0.068.

Historical Price Performance: HBAR has experienced significant fluctuations over the past months. It reached a peak of $0.15 in March 2024 but has since declined to its current price.

Comparison with Major Cryptocurrencies: To assess HBAR's market correlation or independence, let's compare its performance with major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. While HBAR has seen a decrease from its peak, Ethereum has shown substantial growth, increasing by 47% over the last six months. This contrast highlights different market dynamics and investor sentiments towards these assets.

Currency Activity on the Network

We'll use the transaction data to analyse popular tokens on the network.

Top 5 Tokens by Quantity:

• HBAR: 61,555,415,598 units (Native token)
• WHBAR: 6,178,307 units (Wrapped Hbar)
• SAUCE: 2,948,787 units (6 decimals)
• DOV[hts]: 2,604,283 units (8 decimals)
• ETT: 2,577,666 units (0 decimals)

Observations

1. HBAR Dominance: The native HBAR token dominates the quantity by a significant margin.
2. Diversity in Token Types: There's a wide variety of tokens, including wrapped tokens (WHBAR, WBTC), stablecoins (USDC, DAI), and other specialized tokens (ETT, LOVE).
3. Decimal Variation: The tokens have a wide range of decimal places, indicating different use cases and precision requirements.

Tokens with the Highest Decimals

• LOVE: 11 decimals, 51,253 units
• DAVINCI: 9 decimals, 39,667 units
• YAMGO: 9 decimals, 77,530 units
• SAUCEINU: 7 decimals, 154,206 units
• PACK: 6 decimals, 83,931 units

5. Wrapped Tokens: Wrapped tokens like WHBAR and WBTC show the integration and bridging of assets across different blockchain platforms.

Analysing Call Activity on Hedera

We'll run this query to get call data.

From this we see that:

Coinflip Transactions:

• A significant portion of unique transactions involves a coin-flipping game using HBAR.

• Top Swaps via HashPack:

  • HBAR to other tokens and vice versa:
    • SAUCE: 14,013 transactions (HBAR to SAUCE), 19,271 (SAUCE to HBAR)
    • HSUITE: 27,058 transactions (HBAR to HSUITE), 11,172 (HSUITE to HBAR)
    • USDC: 18,315 transactions (USDC to HBAR), 17,997 (HBAR to USDC)
    • Other frequent swaps include HBAR with KARATE, DOVU, LEEMON, JAM, etc.

• Other Activities:

  • Staking NFTs: 1,471 transactions
  • Minting Tokens: 7,187 transactions
  • Domain-related activities:
    • Lookup-domain: 3,944 transactions
    • Register-domain: 1,542 transactions

Transaction Volume and TPS Analysis

Let’s first query the TPS change on Hedera for the recent months.

The total transactions processed and the transactions per second (TPS) are crucial metrics to gauge network activity.

• February 2024:

  Transactions: 116,582,831

  TPS: 1349.34

• March 2024:

  Transactions: 108,612,185

  TPS: 1257.09

• April 2024:

  Transactions: 15,597,500

  TPS: 180.53

• May 2024:

  Transactions: 163,939,686

  TPS: 1897.45

• June 2024:

  Transactions: 114,134,933

  TPS: 1321.01

These figures highlight a substantial increase in activity during specific periods such as February, March, and then May and June. However, we need to check other ecosystem metrics before we come to a conclusion.

Unique Users and Activity

To get some insights into user engagement over time we will get the unique payer accounts interacting with the network over time:

Unique Payer Accounts

This metric measures the number of distinct accounts that have initiated transactions, reflecting the level of user participation on the network.

• April 2024: 346,247 unique payer accounts

• May 2024: 127,421 unique payer accounts

• June 2024: 109,517 unique payer accounts

This metric reflects a broad and active user base, critical for the network's ongoing development and adoption. Significant changes in payer activity might correlate with network events, updates, or external factors affecting user behavior.

Economic and Fee Metrics

The average transaction fees on the Hedera network over recent months offer insights into the platform's cost efficiency and economic dynamics. Here's a breakdown:

May 2024

• Average Transaction Fee: 0.00105745 HBAR

June 2024

• Average Transaction Fee: 0.00130157 HBAR

July 2024

• Average Transaction Fee: 0.00160234 HBAR

Analysis of Transaction Fees

1. Cost Efficiency: Even with the increase, the transaction fees remain relatively low compared to many other blockchain networks, highlighting Hedera's cost efficiency. This low fee structure can be an attractive feature for developers and users seeking affordable and predictable costs.

2. Impact on Network Usage: The modest fee rise could potentially impact user behavior and transaction volumes. Analyzing this data alongside user activity metrics, such as the number of active accounts and transaction types, could provide insights into whether the fee increase is affecting user engagement.

3. Fee Currency and Stability: Since the fees are denominated in HBAR, the network's native token, the cost in fiat currency terms may vary with the price of HBAR. This could influence the perceived cost-effectiveness of transactions on the Hedera network.

Transaction Failures Due to Insufficient Gas:

An important aspect of understanding a network's fee structure is analyzing transaction failures, particularly those related to insufficient gas. In Hedera's case:

• INSUFFICIENT_GAS Transactions:

  Total Count Since January 2024: 377 instances

  Result Code: ID 30, "INSUFFICIENT_GAS"

This data indicates that there have been 377 transactions since January 2024 where the gas provided was insufficient to cover the transaction's execution which is a very little portion compared to the total number of txs executed on-chain.

Transaction Success and Errors

Understanding the nature of transaction outcomes helps assess the network's efficiency and reliability. We will query the transaction outcomes for the year 2024 till now.

• Successful Transactions in 2024:

  Count: 75,774 (Majority are successful)

  Top Error Codes:

• REVERTED_SUCCESS: 7,360,719

• DUPLICATE_TRANSACTION: 2,589,459

• CONTRACT_REVERT_EXECUTED: 1,196,130

While the majority of transactions are successful, a notable amount involves errors such as reverted successes and duplicate transactions. This suggests areas for improvement in transaction handling and user experience.

Future Outlook for Hedera

Hedera continues to demonstrate strong network activity and scalability. The substantial transaction volume, high TPS, and a significant number of unique users indicate an active and robust ecosystem. While the network has not yet decoupled from Bitcoin's price influence, its unique features and growing user base provide a positive outlook for the future.

The key areas for Hedera's growth include improving transaction handling, reducing error rates, and continuing to enhance user experience. As the network evolves, it could potentially decouple from Bitcoin's influence, paving the way for independent growth and value realization.

In summary, Hedera remains a dynamic and active network with promising prospects. The on-chain data reflects its strength in handling high transaction volumes and maintaining a growing user base, setting a solid foundation for future developments.