Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) has launched its new web app for minting its NFTs based on the HIP-412 standard, called Mintbar. At the same time, the Hashgraph Association also announced the first funding of its 12 innovative projects. 

Hedera Hashgraph and the launch of Mintbar to enable the minting of NFTs

The Hedera Hashgraph network has launched Mintbar, a new web app that allows technical and non-technical creators to mint NFTs of the HIP-412 standard. 

Introducing Mintbar: the open-source #NFT minter for #Hedera!

Created by @Ashe_Oro, Mintbar enables both technical and non-technical creators to quickly, easily, and inexpensively mint #NFTs the right way.

Try it yourself! https://t.co/ehdbOSRkurhttps://t.co/Niek3CLGpm

— Hedera (@hedera) December 19, 2022

Basically, mintbar.xyz is an open-sourced Hedera NFT minter built to help accelerate the adoption of the Hedera NFT ecosystem. 

Specifically, NFTs based on the HIP-412 standard were recently made interoperable with industry standards so that they can be supported across all marketplaces, while now the network also wants to enable its users to be able to create their own NFTs. 

Hedera (HBAR), rather than a Blockchain, is a DAG (Directed Acyclic Graphs), which uses a mathematical and computational construction to create distributed systems and networks, through sequential transactions, thus differing from blockchain technology. 

Built for business, its validators are companies, while funders include giants such as Google and IBM. The network can host smart contracts and proceeds with 10,000 transactions per second, but most importantly it turns out to be zero-impact in terms of energy consumption. 

Mintbar is just the first implementation of the NFT Minter application, with the hope that there will be many more in the coming months, adding various feature enhancements and a creative UI/UX.

Hashgraph Association announces funding for first innovative projects

Behind Hedera, is the Hashgraph Association, which appears to have announced funding for its first 12 innovative projects in the areas of Fintech, Insurtech, Greentech, Agritech, Sportstech, Mediatech, DeFi, Stablecoin, Web 3.0, Gaming, Metaverse, NFT, DAO and Tokenization.

It is the Hashgraph Innovation Program which is offered in close collaboration with the Swiss Digital Assets Institute (SDAI).

As such, Hashgraph will provide funding of up to $250,000 for startups, $750,000 for enterprises, and up to $1.5 million to encourage mainstream adoption of the Hedera network worldwide.

Among the funded projects are 88i, AgNext, Capturiant, Deca4, Decimal Point Analytics, Friddy, Metacourt, Nazara, NFT For a Better World, One Global, Rivia, Swiss Coast, The modus operandi, and Twigital.

In this regard, Kamal Youssefi, President of The Hashgraph Association, commented:

“One of our major goals at The Hashgraph Association is to empower organizations of all kinds to build on Hedera and to see the widespread adoption of Hedera-powered solutions across industries. The grant funding through the Hashgraph Innovation Program will enable us to fuel the further expansion of the DLT industry by actively supporting new innovation and cutting-edge projects powered by Hedera. We’re proud to play this part in the journey of promising projects and look forward to building future applications through the Hashgraph Innovation Program.”

Hedera NFTs on LG Electronics’ TV screens

Last October, Hedera (HBAR) and LG Electronics entered into a partnership to bring NFTs to television screens. 

Basically, the South Korean electronics giant, had released its LG Art Lab marketplace, available on TVs in the US running webOS 5.0 and later versions. 

On the new on-TV marketplace, users can buy, sell, and display their Hedera Hashgraph-based NFTs. 

The Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) network will bring NFTs to TV screens together with LG Electronics, the South Korean tech giant. In addition, it appears that LG Electronics is also testing a brand new crypto wallet. 

Specifically, Hedera Hashgraph is a decentralized distributed network that is structurally very different from blockchains such as that of Bitcoin and Ethereum, but performs equivalent functions. 

In fact, it relies on security and validation algorithms that are, according to the platform itself, more efficient than those used by other blockchain networks, which is why LG Electronics may have chosen this very platform for launch. 

What the platform launched by LG looks like with Hedera Hashgraph 

LG has released its NFT marketplace called LG Art Lab, available in the United States on the company’s TVs running the webOS 5.0 operating system or later versions.

The company said the NFT platform allows users to buy, sell and display their Hedera Hashgraph-based NFTs directly from their screens.

In addition, LG Electronics said: 

“The platform includes the LG Art Lab Drops feature, which tracks artist profiles and previews new works coming to the platform.”

In this way, the real-time “Live Drops” countdown allows users to anticipate the minting date and be able to acquire NFTs as soon as they are released. 

The announcement comes about eight months after LG Electronics said the TV giant aims to incorporate NFTs into its smart TV in an effort to redefine the display and user experience. 

In addition, LG says it will continue to add artists’ NFTs on a monthly basis on the LG Art Lab app, just as Samsung is doing with its Samsung NFT Platform. Because of this, included models will be able to display works even when the TV is on standby, turning it into a painting.

Specifically, it has been possible, as of 22 September, to access new releases of NFTs made by LG at the hands of Barry X Ball, a famous artist in the field. In order to purchase these NFTs, it will be necessary for the user to purchase USD Coins (USDC), a cryptocurrency pegged to the value of the dollar.

Why the crypto wallet is important for LG 

As previously anticipated, it appears that LG Electronics is also running a beta test for developers for the purpose of a new crypto wallet app called Wallypto. 

Although the company is still working on the details of the wallet’s functionality, it noted that it will also be based on Hedera. Wallypto, as LG reports, will also likely be compatible with NFTs, hence its importance. 

In addition, the LG company may also look to integrate the wallet with ThinQ, its fast-growing Internet of Things (IoT) platform.

According to News1 and Shina Ilbo sources, the company has registered the app’s name and logo with domestic and foreign patent offices and hopes to make an official launch before the end of the year. 

Samsung anticipates LG in launching NFT in smart TVs 

Even before LG was active in the NFT sector with smart TVs through Hedera Hashgraph, the other tech giant Samsung was already doing so. 

In fact, as early as January 2022, Samsung announced that it would provide a way for NFTs to be displayed on its TVs. 

Samsung is currently collaborating with the well-known Non Fungible Token marketplace Nifty Gateway to develop the first smart TV platform dedicated to this new content.

The collaboration between the two was unveiled at the Unbox and Discover event, which showcased Samsung’s new Neo QLED 8K and the advancement of the user experience for smart TV users. 

Specifically, in the Ambient Mode of Samsung’s QLED and Neo QLED TVs, which allows personal photos and pictures to be displayed, it will soon also be possible to show NFTs purchased on Nifty Gateway, leveraging an integration of Samsung TVs’ Smart Hub with the NFT marketplace.

Thus, there will also be an app specifically for Nifty’s Non-Fungible Tokens that will also be available for The Frame and Micro LED range and that will allow people not only to look at their NFTs, but also to buy others and even exchange them.

The idea behind this integration is surely to expand the NFT market by associating it with a device as common and used as a TV, and at the same time, to allow “visual” NFTs to have an environment in which to be watched with more ease and convenience. 

Hedera Hashgraph: the blockchain in detail 

Why does Hedera Hashgraph differ from other blockchains? Why did LG, for such an important launch, specifically choose to rely on this blockchain? 

As anticipated earlier, Hedera has features and qualities that in some ways make it perform better than other platforms with the same functions. Let’s look at some of them in detail. 

First of all, it is important to note that Hedera Hashgraph is a publicly licensed Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain network. It is governed by 26 global enterprises, known as the Hedera Governing Council, with community input through Hedera Improvement Proposals (HIPs). 

Governing Council members manage Hedera’s validation nodes, while the network switches to hosting nodes without authorization. Hedera offers developers basic services, known as Hedera Network Services, to create decentralized applications. 

The network is powered by the hashgraph consensus algorithm, which offers high effective speed, fair ordering and low-latency consensus.

In addition, hashgraph technology does not involve mining, so the environmental impact of the technology is drastically reduced. Transaction costs are also potentially lower. 

A hashgraph can implement an open ledger with the same security and anonymity features as a blockchain-based ledger, with additional advantages such as better performance and higher capacity.

Today, the only open ledger based on hashgraph technology is Hedera Hashgraph. The only hashgraph-based currency is HBAR. Hedera provides detailed instructions and source code examples to API calls that allow developers to create their own tokens on the Hedera Hashgraph network.