We had the opportunity to interview several visionaries at Swirlds Labs, an entity created by the founders of Hedera. Swirlds Labs aims to enhance the future with products and services that benefit the Hedera ecosystem. Their vision is to create “Shared Worlds” where people can collaborate, trade, and manage their digital identities. To achieve this, Swirlds Labs supports the Hedera network with development efforts, fosters community and enterprise adoption, and spearheads groundbreaking projects that revolutionize online interactions. Additionally, they provide open-source engineering for Hedera’s core network and develop tools and components to facilitate enterprise integration and community engagement.
Our panel interview featured Leemon Baird, the Chief Scientist and Co-Founder of Hedera, Mance Harmon, the Chairman of the Board at Swirlds Labs and Co-Founder of Hedera, and Eric Piscini, CEO of Swirlds Labs.
Leemon recounted his journey into Swirlds Labs with an air of excitement. He began by explaining how he and Mance Harmon initially founded Hedera as a single entity. To foster greater decentralization, they later divided the company into six distinct entities. In this process, Swirlds Labs emerged, where both remained heavily involved. Initially serving as co-CEOs, they eventually brought in Eric Piscini, an accomplished leader, as the new CEO. Meanwhile, Mance took on the role of Chairman of the Board, and Leemon himself embraced the position of Chief Scientist, continuing to drive innovation within the company.
Exploring Distributed Ledger Adoption
Firstly, we wanted to know the most interesting area of distributed ledger adoption for the whole panel, considering the industry’s consistently evolving innovation over the past year.
The panel shared their insights on the most intriguing aspects of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) during their interview, each highlighting unique perspectives. Leemon emphasized the diversity within DLT, particularly fascinated by its applications in green initiatives and sustainability. He discussed how people are tokenizing carbon credits and creating innovative markets, such as selling dirty energy bundled with carbon credits to render it clean, which he finds particularly exciting. The CEO, on the other hand, focused on the broader trend of tokenizing everything. Over the past 18 months, he has observed a surge in individuals seeking to tokenize assets, identities, and carbon credits, a development he finds incredibly promising.
Mance concurred with both Leemon and Eric but narrowed in on real-world assets (RWA). He noted that tokenization has been a significant trend for several years, often discussing how every product and service will eventually have an associated token. In the near term, he believes that the industry poised for breakthrough success is RWA, which he considers to be on the brink of delivering transformative applications and technology. Currently, real-world assets are being tokenized on Hedera!
Industry Awareness and the DeRec Alliance
We inquired about the evolution and growing recognition of the tokenization of RWA and its broader implications beyond financial aspects. Specifically, our audience wanted to know if the executives have observed a shift in awareness and understanding of this technology across various verticals over the years, especially in the context of physical events they have attended.
Mance shared an amusing anecdote from their recent experiences at conferences with Leemon, reflecting on their journey in the industry. He recounted a moment when old colleagues, present since the inception, jokingly dubbed them the “OGs”of the industry, a lighthearted acknowledgment of their longstanding presence.
Transitioning to discussions about Hedera, Mance reminisced about their early days when brand recognition was minimal. He vividly recalled attending conferences where they would inquire if attendees had heard of Hedera, often finding that only a fraction were familiar with the brand. However, he noted a significant shift over time, with a majority of booth visitors now already acquainted with Hedera, signaling a transition towards ongoing educational efforts rather than initial brand awareness.
The DeRec Alliance
We wanted to know more about the panel’s vision for interoperability and the growth of open standards within the industry, particularly in relation to the collaboration and emergence of various initiatives and ecosystem participants within the DeRec Alliance that includes Algorand, Ripple, Casper Labs, Constellation, XRPL, and others.
Leemon emphasized the urgent need for collaboration within the industry, particularly through initiatives like the DeRec Alliance, to address critical issues such as user safety and accessibility. He highlighted the risks associated with centralized wallets and the importance of developing solutions that mitigate such risks, underscoring the necessity of a safety net for users’ assets. The Co-Founder of Hedera also stressed the growing momentum of the DeRec Alliance, driven by the shared recognition among industry players of the imperative to prioritize user protection.
Expanding his perspective to the broader industry landscape, Leemon underscored the collective responsibility to advance technological solutions that benefit humanity as a whole. He articulated the industry’s pivotal role in driving global progress and emphasized the imperative to prioritize user experience, safety, and ease of use as paramount objectives. It is imperative for industry-wide collaboration to address multifaceted challenges and accelerate the adoption of transformative technologies for the betterment of society.
Hedera Network’s Unique Capabilities and the Developer Community
The CEO of Swirlds Labs, Eric, outlined both the similarities and distinctive features of the Hedera network compared to other blockchain platforms. He noted the commonality in adopting EVM, which facilitates familiar functionalities such as smart contracts and transaction execution. However, Eric emphasized a key differentiation: the implementation of fixed fees, a feature not commonly found in other networks, especially those targeting enterprise applications. He underscored the significance of this feature, particularly in appealing to enterprise clients who prioritize cost predictability and stability.
Moreover, Eric highlighted the credibility conferred by the Hedera Governing Council, comprising esteemed industry players, which instills confidence in clients regarding the network’s reliability and longevity. From a technical perspective, Eric emphasized the paramount importance of security, underscoring how Hedera’s unique combination of fixed fees, credibility, and robust security measures appeals to developers and ensures the network’s viability for decades to come.
Hedera’s Transactions, Throughput and Decentralization
Significantly, in May of 2024, the Hedera Network had officially processed over 50 billion Mainnet transactions since its launch!
Harmon reflected on the remarkable performance of the Hedera network compared to other layer-one blockchain platforms. He emphasized the network’s unparalleled transaction throughput, which continues to astound him. However, what truly captivated Mance was the evolution of revenue generation within the network. He noted that while transaction volumes are significant, the increasing revenue from diverse enterprise use cases, particularly those leveraging the Hedera Token Service (HTS), is particularly noteworthy.
Mance also highlighted the significant growth in user activity in token-related transactions, which contributes to a robust revenue mix for Hedera. He expressed satisfaction at seeing Hedera emerge as a top project not simply solely reliant on large users, indicating a positive trajectory for the network’s future. Overall, Mance viewed the past year as a testament to Hedera’s success and ongoing growth.
Hedera Network also has unique strengths in terms of its governance and technological capabilities. Leemon highlighted that Hedera boasts the most decentralized governance in the industry, with 32 truly independent large organizations involved. Additionally, he pointed out the unparalleled transparency in Hedera’s governance model. The importance of this decentralization cannot be overstated, as it underpins the functionality of the Hedera Consensus Service (HCS). HCS enables the decentralization of various supply chain applications by allowing the storage of information in ways that traditional smart contracts cannot. Leemon expressed his belief that this trend of decentralization will continue to grow and spread across different sectors of society, including government, economics, and education, leading to transformative changes in these areas.
Envisioning the Future of Developer Activity in the Hedera Network
We inquired about Leemon’s vision for the future trajectory of developer activity within the Hedera Network, considering its consistent top-ranking status across the industry in terms of developer engagement. Specifically, we wanted to explore how he anticipates this momentum evolving amidst ongoing innovation, with a focus on enhancing the developer experience and the potential for leveraging additional innovative tools and features.
Leemon expressed enthusiasm about the burgeoning developer community within the Hedera Network, emphasizing its rapid growth and the diversity of projects being built upon it. He underscored the importance of developers in bringing magic to the platform, highlighting their pivotal role in leveraging the infrastructure provided by Hedera. He also reiterated the company’s commitment to simplifying the development process, ensuring that it remains accessible and user-friendly for newcomers.
Transitioning to Eric’s thoughts, he announced the launch of a new website dedicated to facilitating the developer experience on Hedera. This comprehensive resource serves as a hub for all Hedera projects, providing developers with essential information and enabling direct contributions, thus further fostering innovation and collaboration within the ecosystem.
Enthusiastic Reflections and Future Prospects in the Hedera Ecosystem
Swirlds Labs’ CEO expressed his enthusiasm about several significant developments within the Hedera ecosystem over the past year. Reaching 50 billion transactions on the network stands out as a monumental achievement, showcasing real-world adoption by companies and individuals. Additionally, he highlighted the growing maturity of the Hedera Governing Council, noting its expansion and increasing influence as a key differentiator. This maturation has bolstered Hedera’s credibility, especially when engaging with major players in the financial and supply chain sectors. Eric shared that when he discusses the expanding council with large companies, the immediate response often is an eagerness to join, underscoring the council’s appeal and the ecosystem’s robust growth.
Mance reflected on the journey and exciting developments within the Hedera ecosystem over the past year. He began by recounting Leemon’s creation of the Hedera Hashgraph in 2015, noting its initial significance. However, from the start, Mance and the team believed that the importance of technology would eventually be surpassed by the need for strong governance. Initially, their governance model, which involved a diverse council of corporate members, was met with skepticism and viewed as unconventional in the industry. Over time, as the industry matured, the value of robust governance became increasingly recognized. Mance shared that other layer-one networks have even approached Hedera’s Governing Council for governance support, illustrating a shift in industry perception.
Looking ahead, Mance emphasized that significant technological innovations within the Hedera ecosystem are yet to be fully realized and brought to market. He concluded by reiterating the critical role of their maturing governance model, especially as enterprises begin deploying their solutions, underscoring Hedera’s rock-solid approach as a cornerstone for future success.
Exploring Hedera Network’s Use Cases
Eric highlighted two notable real-world use cases that have emerged within the Hedera ecosystem. First, he mentioned the initiative to tokenize market funds on Hedera, which democratizes access to market investments for a broader audience. This development is particularly exciting as it opens up new financial opportunities to a wider range of people.
SCEMS
The second significant partnership involves Hyundai and Kia, focusing on tracking the carbon footprint of every car delivered. This project, known as SCEMS (Supply Chain Emission Management System), calculates carbon emissions at every stage of the supply chain, from raw material procurement to manufacturing and transportation.
Notably, the aim is to provide reliable data for reducing carbon emissions, an essential step in combating climate change. SCEMS not only measures, verifies, and reports data with precision and transparency but also integrates AI technology to set carbon reduction targets and predict future emissions accurately. This collaboration showcases how Hedera’s technology can be leveraged to achieve substantial environmental benefits and underscores the importance of transparent and reliable data in sustainability efforts.
EQTY Lab
Leemon, Co-Founder of Hedera, also emphasized Hedera’s strengths in providing a robust and enduring platform, which is particularly crucial for applications requiring long-term reliability. He highlighted the example of EQTY Lab, which is using Hedera for AI provenance, tracing the origins of data used to train large language models (LLMs). This ensures transparency and accountability in AI development. Looking to the future, Leemon envisioned the potential for users to grant permissions for their data to be used by AI and receive micro-royalties in return, expanding the possibilities for data usage and monetization. He expressed excitement about Hedera’s role in enabling innovative applications that align with and enhance emerging technologies, such as AI, by providing the necessary infrastructure to support these advancements.
Furthermore, the blockchain industry has long recognized the importance of interoperability and cross-chain integration. However, Mance that with the increasing tokenization of real-world assets, this need has become more urgent and significant. The ability to move tokenized assets seamlessly across different platforms is gaining importance as these assets become more prevalent and integral to various applications. Notably, people are starting to prioritize solving this interoperability challenge. He additionally hinted that Leemon has some innovative designs in the works that could address these issues, potentially providing breakthrough solutions to enhance cross-chain communication and asset transfer.
Shaping the Future: Hedera’s Outlook for 2024
The Chairman reflected on the significant changes and progress Hedera has made over the years, noting how each year brings remarkable transformations. For 2024, he anticipates a pivotal shift from what he terms “Hedera 1.0,” encompassing the period from 2017 to the present, to a new phase characterized by a refreshed leadership and a renewed focus on critical objectives. This transition involves exporting and refining elements from the initial version of Hedera into a more mature and sophisticated platform.
Furthermore, Harmon expressed excitement about the potential achievements by the end of the year. He emphasized that while it is challenging to predict exactly how things will evolve, the changes already observed in 2024 indicate that the year will bring substantial advancements and accomplishments for Hedera.
Making Hedera a network where standards are easy to understand and adopt is of utmost importance to the Swirlds Labs CEO. He highlighted the need to provide developers, organizations, startups, and individuals with all the necessary tools and capabilities to create new business models, applications, and companies in a matter of weeks. Drawing on his decade of experience in the industry, Eric shared his commitment to pushing for improvements that enable everyone to work better, faster, and more efficiently. His vision for Hedera is to simplify the development process, empowering users to innovate and succeed with ease.
“Hedera is going to become part of every part of the planet, every part of business, education, social, governance and entertainment…and half the time it’s going to be invisible. The person won’t even know they’re using it, just like electricity. You don’t think about the electricity going to these lights; it is just part of your life. That is the future.” – Leemon Baird.
Reflecting on 2024, Leemon highlighted the immense excitement surrounding the Hedera network. This year has already witnessed a significant tokenization of real-world assets and funds on Hedera, marking a shift from future promises to present realities. The adoption rate has been extraordinary, with numerous projects actively building new applications on the network.
Furthermore, despite the year not being halfway over, the progress made is so substantial that it could already be considered a success. Looking ahead, Leemon envisions Hedera as a 100-year project, integral to every aspect of life, from business and education to governance and entertainment. He predicts that distributed ledger technology, especially Hedera, will become as ubiquitous and invisible as electricity, seamlessly woven into the fabric of daily activities without users even realizing it.
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