In Episode 8 of his intriguing video series “Hidden Secrets of Money,” Mike Maloney takes an in-depth look at not only the cryptocurrency revolution and the recent frenzy driving it, but also beyond the blockchain, to a more recent development called "hashgraph."

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Maloney spent a full year doing the research that went into the making of Episode 8 – titled “From Bitcoin To Hashgraph: The Crypto Revolution” (link below). As in the previous episodes, Maloney gives us an easily understandable history and analysis of something that many of us know very little about.

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The Revolution Will Be Revised

The first half of Episode 8 covers blockchain, distributed ledger technology (DLT), and cryptocurrencies. Maloney compares the invention of blockchain to the discovery of fire. While blockchain is one of the crucial and essential innovations in the historical development of mankind, he asserts that blockchain is probably not the be-all or the end-all.

We no longer start a fire in order to cook our meals or heat our homes – we just flick a switch or turn a knob. In the same way, blockchain (and its offspring bitcoin) might turn out to be the 21st-century version of fire. A great innovation, but something that eventually turns out to be relatively primitive.

For one thing, there are certain “unintended consequences.” One result is that, to a certain extent, bitcoin is “not being used as currency,” but only as a speculative asset. And if bitcoin transaction fees remain as high as they currently are, it is highly unlikely that bitcoin will be used as a currency, at least for minor transactions.

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After his great lesson on blockchain and cryptos, Maloney moves on in the second half of the episode, taking us beyond those technologies, onward and upward to hashgraph.

The hashgraph consensus mechanism uses an update of the “gossip protocal” that has been used for years as a means of information sharing. The update is called “gossip about gossip,” in which the recording of shared info is called an “event.”

The order of the events is determined and each is given a time stamp. That in turn determines the order of the transactions that are stored.

Hashgraph consensus has several main characteristics that differentiate it from blockchain, as follows:

–– There is no mining. Instead, blocks can be created by any member at any time.

–– The size of the blocks can vary. Since large blocks will inevitably take more time, most blocks will probably not be very large.

–– Consensus can be achieved without Proof of Work.

–– Emphasis is placed on the order of the transactions and the fairness in completing them.

Bigger Than DLT

Developed by Leemon Baird and Mance Harmon, hashgraph is an even more revolutionary technology than blockchain, and one that can potentially supersede it. While blockchain has “limitations at scale,” hashgraph overcomes those limitations, partly by returning the focus to “reaching consensus.” This is resulting in the “biggest revolution since the web.”

As Maloney clarifies, the energy needed to power the bitcoin blockchain is “unsustainable.” Hashgraph overcomes this problem, too. It is not simply a blockchain, but a revolutionary consensus algorithm that is both simple and elegant, and which allows for virtually instant consensus. With hashgraph, we do not need to wait for a block to be added to the chain before we reach that consensus.

Moreover, hashgraph does “not require proof of work to reach consensus.” Consequently, consensus can be reached more easily and quickly than on blockchain.

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Faster, Fairer, Safer … and Scalable

Overall, hashgraph is faster, fairer, and more secure. In fact, it’s mind-bogglingly faster. Demetri Kofinas compares the throughput speed of hashgraph with that of blockchain, saying that “it’s roughly twice the speed of sound relative to a snail’s pace. Bitcoin being a snail’s pace. And this network literally being like a supersonic jet travelling at twice the speed of sound.”

Cryptos and blockchain are said to be “not living up to the original promise of what bitcoin was supposed to be. Hashgraph might keep the promise." It’s “a blockchain-alternative that achieves high scalability without sacrificing security.”

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(As ever, Maloney asks the right questions, and finds the right answers. Just as in the previous episodes of his series, he dissects and examines the subjects, distills them to their essence, and then presents them in a clear, logical, and comprehensible manner. The result is an easily understood and very interesting video about these revolutionary technologies.)

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From Bitcoin To Hashgraph: The Crypto Revolution – Hidden Secrets Of Money, Episode 8 (Mike Maloney) …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF362xxcfdk

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Further Viewing – What is Hashgraph and how will it replace blockchain? (London Stax) …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPdUAw-Fpco

https://steemitimages.com/DQmcZgwBFXnLsFFJr3nkP2VYs7m1dWFYQWMkqqCYQ5spGvJ/image.png Further Viewing – Swirlds Hashgraph Consensus for Identity (Leemon Baird) … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhHfjOqlUv4

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Further Reading, Source Article – Blockchain Just Became Obsolete. The Future is Hashgraph, Justin Danneman.

https://steemitimages.com/DQmcZgwBFXnLsFFJr3nkP2VYs7m1dWFYQWMkqqCYQ5spGvJ/image.png (In Episodes 1–7 of “Hidden Secrets of Money,” Maloney taught many people the essential aspects of our economies and financial systems. Find all those interesting and very informative episodes at the following link.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyV0OfU3-FU&list=PLE88E9ICdipidHkTehs1VbFzgwrq1jkUJ )

https://steemitimages.com/DQmaRbjQ7Pgj4eUr1u2FMdHCuajLf9gTV8k4WNEV2jZqCFM/image.png Images sourced from Google Images

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