Hedera’s native token HBAR is testing a critical technical level at $0.23 after a 3% intraday pullback on Friday, but institutional momentum and key developments - including SWIFT’s live blockchain trial announcement and Grayscale’s new trust filings - are providing bullish tailwinds that could position the asset for significant upside in the months ahead.
Despite the recent price dip, HBAR remains one of the most closely watched altcoins in the enterprise blockchain segment. Trading volume surged above 80 million tokens during the August 21 trading session - a sign of intensifying interest from institutional and speculative investors alike as confidence grows in Hedera’s real-world utility.
Now, with SWIFT preparing to integrate HBAR in cross-border payment pilots and Grayscale registering new HBAR-related trust documents in Delaware, sentiment around Hedera’s future as a backbone of blockchain-based financial infrastructure is beginning to shift.
$0.23: A Critical Technical Test
HBAR has been hovering in a tight range between $0.23 support and $0.24 resistance, with price action showing a narrow 2.4% trading volatility band. The coin’s ability to hold this support zone is being closely monitored by traders as a key inflection point for future direction.
On Friday, HBAR retraced by 3% from its recent peak, slipping to $0.23 amid broader market softness. However, volume spiked above 80 million tokens during mid-day trading sessions, a technical signal that often precedes reversals or major breakouts, especially when paired with high-profile fundamental news.
While some traders anticipate further testing of support, others are focusing on the macro catalysts now aligning in Hedera’s favor, particularly within the institutional payments sector.
SWIFT Blockchain Trial Adds $150 Trillion Catalyst
The most significant tailwind for HBAR this week stems from SWIFT’s confirmation that it will begin live blockchain payment trials involving Hedera’s hashgraph-based network in November 2025.
SWIFT - the world’s largest financial messaging and settlement provider - processes over $150 trillion in cross-border transactions annually. Its pilot program will integrate blockchain rails with traditional financial messaging infrastructure, with HBAR serving as one of the supported settlement tokens.
If successful, Hedera’s inclusion could allow banks and payment providers to settle international transfers on-chain in near real-time, a dramatic improvement over SWIFT’s current multi-day settlement system. Hedera’s hashgraph technology, known for its high throughput (10,000+ TPS), finality in seconds, and low energy consumption, makes it a fitting choice for enterprise-grade settlement.
The announcement follows more than a year of blockchain interoperability testing led by SWIFT, in collaboration with more than a dozen global financial institutions and infrastructure providers. Hedera was notably one of the networks involved in earlier phases of the initiative, alongside Ethereum, Polygon, and others.
Grayscale HBAR Trust Filing Sparks ETF Speculation
In parallel with SWIFT’s announcement, Grayscale, the world’s largest digital asset manager, quietly filed new trust registration documents in Delaware linked to Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR). The trust - which has not been formally launched or promoted - has sparked widespread speculation about a potential HBAR exchange-traded product (ETP) or long-term institutional accumulation vehicle.
Grayscale has a history of launching private trusts for digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, many of which eventually formed the basis for publicly traded funds. While the current HBAR-related trust is not yet listed on public exchanges, the filings are often seen as early indicators of strategic positioning for future regulated offerings.
The news comes amid a wave of crypto ETF activity globally, with Ethereum spot ETFs now live in the U.S. and Asia, and multiple asset managers signaling interest in layer-1 and infrastructure-oriented blockchain assets that serve real-world applications.
Institutional Volumes Continue to Build
The combined effect of these developments has triggered a notable uptick in institutional attention, as reflected in HBAR’s recent volume surge and positioning among top 20 coins by turnover in select trading sessions this week.
According to CoinMarketCap, HBAR’s trading volume on August 21 spiked by more than 220% compared to its 30-day average, signaling heightened accumulation - or possibly large rebalancing activity - from larger market participants.
Institutional inflows into blockchain infrastructure projects like Hedera are being driven by the intersection of compliance, scalability, and enterprise utility - qualities that few Layer-1 chains can currently offer at Hedera’s level.
Technical Picture: Holding the Line at $0.23
From a charting perspective, HBAR’s current setup shows short-term consolidation, with a floor at $0.23 and selling pressure at $0.24. If HBAR can close above $0.24 with volume confirmation, analysts see potential for a breakout toward the $0.26–$0.28 zone, which served as support-turned-resistance in prior cycles.
Conversely, a failure to hold $0.23 could result in retracement toward $0.21, though analysts view that as unlikely unless macro conditions deteriorate further.
Traders are also watching for confirmation signals such as MACD crossovers, RSI reversals, and moving average alignment. Current sentiment remains cautiously bullish, with sentiment indicators tilting toward “accumulate” on most crypto trading dashboards.
Hashgraph’s Broader Vision for Finance
Beyond the immediate price action, Hedera continues to position itself as the enterprise blockchain of choice, with a rapidly expanding footprint across:
- Tokenized finance and real-world assets (RWAs)
- Central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilots
- Supply chain traceability and IoT platforms
- ESG and carbon credit tracking systems
Its Governing Council, which includes global powerhouses such as Google, IBM, LG, Boeing, Standard Bank, and DBS Bank, ensures that Hedera has deep institutional ties and long-term credibility. Few blockchain projects boast this level of corporate engagement.
The use of Hedera’s native token HBAR for network fees, staking rewards, and value transfer further solidifies its role in the ecosystem, with rising token velocity likely if integrations like SWIFT move to production in the future.
Final thoughts
HBAR’s current retest of the $0.23 level marks more than just a technical checkpoint. It represents a moment of convergence between market momentum and foundational progress, as the Hedera network inches closer to real-world adoption at scale.
With SWIFT onboarding blockchain rails and Grayscale signaling trust interest, the narrative around HBAR is shifting from speculative token to institutional-grade settlement layer. While short-term volatility may persist, the fundamentals behind Hedera's vision - and HBAR’s role within it - are drawing growing interest from both crypto-native funds and traditional finance players.
If these trends continue, $0.23 may soon be remembered not as a resistance ceiling, but as a new floor in Hedera’s ascent toward the global stage.