Successful crypto projects are similar to each other. Unlucky people are unlucky in different ways. Solana has been forced to focus on resolving persistent network outages over the past year. But the Hedera team focused on something else, trying to win over the developers.

Platform updates

Hedera developers applied two changes at once on February 1, 2024. The first was a new faucet that made it possible to anonymously receive up to 100 HBAR tokens on the test network. You can do this once a day, simply using your EVM address or ID. The launch of test tokens should help introduce a more convenient process for testing applications on the network.

The second change affected the procedure for filling out Hedera Testnet accounts that were created through the project portal. From February 1, up to 1,000 HBAR is available, subject to a manual request (simply pressing a button), once a day. This will allow each account on the Hedera portal to start with the same number of tokens after the next test network restart.

Personal Access Tokens, also known as API keys, have also become available. They help to re-create accounts, as well as automatically request information after restarting the test and preliminary networks.

According to the developers, the update will help achieve the following results:

  1. Make the process smoother: With a faucet, developers will have faster access to the testnet, and API keys will eliminate the need to manually recreate accounts after each restart.
  2. More privacy for developers: the new faucet will allow you to keep personal data secret.
  3. More efficient use of resources.
  4. The growth of the network and innovation: simplifying the work of developers and increasing privacy should attract new members.

Increasing activity is now Hedera's priority. Even before the introduction of updates, this crypto platform was, by some indicators, one of the leaders.

Developer activity

Every month analytical
platform Santiment publishes information about cutting-edge projects. For the assessment, information about the activity of representatives of crypto projects on Github is used.

In January 2024 Hedera
took, according to Santiment, fourth place. Ahead of her were only
Polkadot (DOT)
Cardano (ADA) and
Optimism (OP). A month before (in December) Hedera
occupied sixth place in developer activity.

The cryptocurrency itself shows stunning results in other metrics.

Messari report

Analytical platform Messari released your next quarterly report. Here, special attention is paid to the results of Hedera, which turned out to be quite impressive. The number of transactions on the network has grown for the sixth quarter in a row. And the average number of transactions per day was a record 164 million.

Hedera's market capitalization in the fourth quarter alone grew by 78%, to $2.9 billion. This turned out to be the best indicator in the crypto market, which on average increased in price by only 54%. If we take Hedera’s year-on-year indicators (end of 2023/end of 2022), then the growth is even greater – 211%. However, at the beginning of 2024, the capitalization of the cryptocurrency dropped to $2.3 billion. According to this indicator, as of February 4, Hedera ranks 37th.

The locked value of cryptocurrency tokens (TVL) reached $64 million at the end of 2023. In February, the figure continued to grow and was already $75.65 million.

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Source: defillama.com

In addition, the Hedera project has an active investment policy. The governing body The Hedera Council has allocated 4.86 billion HBAR ($400 million) for the development of the network. The platform's priority is to develop EVM capabilities.

The Hedera Council also saw changes in 2024.

New members in management

January 15th was made official statement according to which the American division of the large Japanese conglomerate Hitachi has become a new member of The Hedera Council:

“We are pleased to announce that Hitachi America has joined The Hedera Council, bringing with it industrial solutions expertise to create proof-of-concept concepts for Supply Chain and address sustainability challenges in the coming year.”

A little later, on January 24, information appeared that the Australian payment company Australian Payments Plus had become part of The Hedera Council. In 2022, the company was created with the direct participation of a member of the platform’s governing body in collaboration with Australian payment services
BPAY Group And
NPP Australia.

In total, at the beginning of February 2024, Hedera is managed by 30 companies. The maximum number can increase to 39.

Technical analysis

The Hedera cryptocurrency had a pretty good run at the end of 2023. From October 19 to December 15, the value of HBAR increased by 138.72%. If we take the last year, the value of Hedera has risen by 135%, from $0.03643 to $0.08565.

In 2024, the situation is not so rosy. In January, Hedera fell by 18.7%. And in February the downward trend continues. Indicators support bearish dominance: the 50-day moving average (in yellow) is above the price, and the RSI indicator is below 50. For Hedera, it is important to remain above the $0.06710 support level. If it is broken down, the fall will most likely continue. Well, until the nearest resistance level of $0.0756 is overcome, there is no need to talk about a change in trend.

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Source: tradingview.com

Conclusion

Hedera places a strong emphasis on expanding the developer experience. Certain changes are also taking place in the composition of the governing body: new members have been added (Hitachi America and Australian Payments Plus). The platform continues to grow in a number of metrics: number of transactions, TVL and others. But the price of Hedera tokens continues to decline after a successful 2023.

This material and the information contained herein do not constitute individual or other investment advice. The opinion of the editors may not coincide with the opinions of the author, analytical portals and experts.