An on-chain analyst has raised concerns regarding the discrepancy between Hedera’s growing enterprise adoption and its lackluster market profile. During her analysis, she highlighted that while major corporations and even a U.S. state are increasingly opting for Hedera’s technological platform, the value of its token, HBAR, remains stagnant as if nothing significant is occurring within the ecosystem.
The analyst pointed to several notable additions to Hedera’s governing council, which have not made much of an impact on crypto social media. FedEx joined the council in February, followed by McLaren Racing on March 25, 2026. These companies are not merely entering into partnerships; as council members, they run network nodes and possess voting rights over Hedera’s strategic direction and infrastructure. Currently, the council includes more than 30 members, with approximately half being Fortune 500 companies.
Fire Hustle notes that such high-profile additions would typically dominate the conversation in the crypto community, yet Hedera has largely remained under the radar. Despite its muted profile, Hedera’s transaction metrics suggest significant activity. HBAR trades around $0.09, significantly lower than its peak earlier in 2024, while the total value locked in DeFi sits at approximately $60 million, and daily active addresses number only in the thousands. These figures are overshadowed by networks like Solana, which feature far more activity.
However, since its inception in 2019, Hedera has processed over 70 billion transactions, predominantly in enterprise services, including consensus messages, token operations, and supply-chain verification. The network’s fixed-fee model, which is approximately $0.0001 per transfer, ties costs to the USD value, and its claimed throughput reaches up to 10,000 transactions per second with around two-second finality, making it particularly appealing for corporate use.
While HBAR’s presence in stablecoins lags far behind giants like Ethereum—citing only about $50 million in stablecoin supply on Hedera compared to roughly $300 billion across all networks—Hedera has been selected as one of seven networks to support Wyoming’s FRNT stablecoin. The platform has also been chosen for stablecoins related to the Australian Digital Dollar and a planned Philippine national stablecoin.
Tokenization of real-world assets has become another area of focus for Hedera. Projects involving major financial institutions and corporations, such as Archax’s collaboration with BlackRock, Fidelity, and State Street, are underway, aiming to tokenize significant assets. Other partnerships include Vera and automobile manufacturers like Hyundai and Kia, which target carbon credits, emissions tracking, and payments, generating a consistent demand for HBAR.
Looking ahead, the analyst asserts that Hedera has entered the spotlight with the launch of the third crypto asset spot ETF via Canary Capital’s HBAR product in October 2025. Additionally, there are ongoing reviews for further ETF filings from Grayscale and 21Shares, which could open new channels for capital investment, though this hasn’t yet led to substantial price movements.
The ecosystem appears to be embracing artificial intelligence, with an upcoming HederaCon 2026 event promising discussions around real-world assets and AI infrastructure. Some reports also mention that industry leaders will attend, potentially bringing additional visibility to the platform.
While the inherent risks are acknowledged, including the enterprise-first model potentially suppressing visible metrics such as total value locked and active wallets, concerns remain regarding the centralization perceived in council governance. Market reactions to broader cryptocurrency trends, especially if Bitcoin experiences a downturn, also pose threats to HBAR’s performance.
Ultimately, the central question looms: will markets eventually recognize the value of a network that supports state-issued stablecoins, boasts substantial tokenization projects, and counts Fortune 500 companies among its governance council? Or will Hedera continue to operate as a low-profile infrastructure layer while retail investors turn their attention elsewhere? As stakeholders assess the ecosystem, Fire Hustle encourages close monitoring of transaction volume, total value locked, new council member announcements, and insights from HederaCon 2026 as potential indicators of future growth.
