HIP-755 and HIP-756 unlock exciting new capabilities by connecting Hedera's native scheduled transactions with the Hedera Smart Contract Service (HSCS), enabling unprecedented multi-party coordination and smart contract scheduling capabilities for advanced decentralized applications.
Following the implementation of Long Term Scheduled Transactions (HIP-423) in Hedera's mainnet 0.57, Hedera is now extending powerful scheduling functionalities to its smart contract ecosystem through two complementary HIPs: HIP-755 (Schedule Service System Contract) and HIP-756 (Contract Scheduled Token Create).
Together, these improvements unlock exciting new capabilities by connecting Hedera's native scheduled transactions - already unique within web3 - with the Hedera Smart Contract Service (HSCS), enabling sophisticated automation capabilities and multi-party coordination that are unprecedented within the blockchain space.
Current limitations in smart contract functionalities at the network level within decentralized protocols present several critical challenges:
Authorization Limitations: Smart contracts can't carry the multi-signature authorizations used to confirm participation in transactions
Role Assignment Constraints: Contracts can't designate other accounts (Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) or contracts) to critical token roles
Multi-Party Coordination Barriers: Complex operations requiring approval from multiple entities are challenging or infeasible
These restrictions force developers to create workarounds that compromise user experience or limit the decentralization potential of their applications. With the implementation of HIP-755 and HIP-756 in mainnet release 0.59, these limitations are addressed on Hedera - bringing enhanced usability, more effective multi-party coordination capabilities, and advanced automation functionality to Web3.
HIP-755 introduces a new system contract that enables smart contracts to interact with Hedera's scheduled transaction service. This creates a bridge between the EVM environment and Hedera's native scheduling capabilities through:
Schedule Authorization: Allows smart contracts to authorize scheduled transactions
Signature Transmission: Enables passing serialized signatures from EOAs to scheduled transactions
Facade Methods: Provides simplified interfaces for common scheduling operations
Synthetic Transaction Generation: Creates ScheduleSign child transactions automatically when needed
Building on HIP-755, this improvement specifically addresses token creation and role assignment by:
Scheduled Token Creation: Enables scheduling token creation transactions from smart contracts
Role Assignment Coordination: Allows designating other accounts as treasury or autoRenew
Token Information Retrieval: Provides methods to retrieve details about scheduled token transactions
Multi-Party Authorization: Coordinates approval workflows for token role assignments
Network scheduling capabilities for both transactions and smart contracts enable developers to create use cases and/or workflows that were previously impossible to implement effectively while maintaining the benefits and efficiencies of a decentralized ledger. However, networks face fundamental challenges when implementing said features non-natively. Scheduled operations implemented in this way either:
Rely on centralized off-chain infrastructure
Require complex on-chain logic with poor user experience
Cannot support true multi-party authorization without compromising account security
With Hedera’s network-native scheduling capabilities that extend to smart contracts, these core issues are addressed through:
Native Protocol Integration: Schedule execution is guaranteed by the consensus protocol itself, not dependent on external services
True Account Sovereignty: Accounts must explicitly authorize their participation in scheduled operations
Deterministic Execution: Scheduled transactions execute based on consensus timestamp, not arbitrary triggers
Comprehensive Authorization Model: Supports complex multi-signature requirements across different account types (EOA, contract)
Unified Programming Model: Bridges the gap between Hedera Token Service and Smart Contract Service
This combination enables workflows that are either impossible or impractically complex on other blockchain platforms, particularly for token operations requiring multiple authorizing parties.
Native scheduling capabilities enable sophisticated token governance models that better align with effective decentralization. Community-governed tokens can now have multiple signatories for treasury functions, requiring coordinated approval for operations like minting or burning. Scheduled transactions also enable more robust vesting mechanisms and token distributions that require authorization from multiple stakeholders, creating stronger safeguards for regulatory compliance through proper role separation.
For example, a lending protocol could implement a reserve token requiring approval from three separate entities: a risk management DAO, a treasury committee, and a technical oversight group. Using HIP-755 and HIP-756, this protocol could schedule interest rate adjustments that only execute when all three parties sign off, with each entity maintaining sovereignty over their authorization decisions. This arrangement would be virtually impossible to implement securely on other blockchains without compromising decentralization.
For enterprise applications, these HIPs address key challenges around corporate governance and multi-party business processes. With scheduled smart contract operations, organizations can tokenize assets while maintaining proper separation of duties across departments. Treasury functions can be assigned to finance teams, while renewal responsibilities might belong to operations or legal teams. More importantly, cross-organizational collaboration becomes significantly more practical, as multiple companies can share administrative responsibilities without surrendering control to a centralized authority.
Consider a supply chain consortium where manufacturers, logistics providers, and retailers collectively manage tokenized inventory. Using HIP-756, they could create tokens representing product batches with treasury functions assigned to manufacturers, while renewal operations are handled by logistics partners. A scheduled token creation would only execute after receiving authorization from all designated parties, ensuring accountability while maintaining the efficiency of a distributed ledger, eliminating the need for trusted intermediaries that have traditionally coordinated such multi-party business processes.
The NFT ecosystem can benefit tremendously from these improvements, especially as collaborative creation becomes increasingly important within the industry. Multi-creator collections often struggle with equitable administration of shared intellectual property, particularly regarding treasury management and royalty distributions. With scheduled smart contract operations, NFT platforms can implement governance models where multiple artists must approve significant actions affecting their joint collections, ensuring no single party can unilaterally change the economic parameters of the marketplace.
A practical implementation could be a music NFT platform where albums are released as collaborative collections between musicians, visual artists, and producers. Using HIP-755 and HIP-756, the platform could create a token structure where royalty distributions require approval from all contributing artists, while platform maintenance functions are assigned to separate administrators. When fans purchase these NFTs, the scheduled royalty distributions would automatically execute after receiving the required authorizations, ensuring transparent and equitable compensation for all creators - a level of collaborative control that would be exceedingly difficult to implement on other blockchain networks that lack these scheduling functionalities.
Let's explore how these HIPs can enable sophisticated token creation scenarios:
A smart contract initiates token creation through the scheduleNative function
The system generates a scheduled TokenCreate transaction with designated roles
The transaction returns the ScheduleId to the calling contract
Direct HAPI ScheduleSign calls
HSS system contract's signSchedule() method
EOA facade method interactions
When all required signatures are collected, the token is created with proper role assignments
The token address becomes available via execution receipts or queries
This workflow preserves account sovereignty while enabling complex multi-party coordination through the consensus mechanism.
Developers can begin leveraging these new capabilities by:
Understanding the Fundamentals: Learn how scheduled transactions work in Hedera
Identifying Multi-Party Scenarios: Determine where your application needs distributed authorization
Implementing Scheduling Logic: Use the appropriate system contract calls for your use case
Testing Authorization Flows: Ensure all parties understand their role in the scheduled transaction
Building User Interfaces: Create intuitive ways for users to authorize scheduled operations
HIP-755 and HIP-756 represent a significant advancement in Hedera's smart contract capabilities, addressing fundamental limitations that have constrained decentralized applications. By bridging native scheduling with smart contract functionality, Hedera enables a new generation of sophisticated multi-party applications while maintaining its commitment to security and account sovereignty.
These improvements firmly position Hedera as a leader in web3, offering developers the tools needed to build truly decentralized applications with complex governance requirements. As these HIPs move toward implementation, they will unlock new possibilities for DeFi, enterprise solutions, and decentralized governance that were previously unattainable.
For developers looking to leverage these capabilities, the combination of Hedera's robust consensus, powerful scheduling system, and expanded smart contract functionality creates an unparalleled platform for building the next generation of web3 applications.
HIP-755 Test Script: https://github.com/hashgraph/h...Hedera Schedule Service (HSS) System Contract Functions: https://github.com/hashgraph/h...
HIP-755 Documentation: https://hips.hedera.com/hip/hip-755HIP-756 Documentation: https://hips.hedera.com/hip/hip-756HIP-423 Documentation: https://hips.hedera.com/hip/hip-423