Holochain is an open-source framework for building peer-to-peer apps. HOT is a separate token, an ERC-20 issued by Holo Limited in 2018 as a pre-sale voucher. It was meant to convert 1:1 into HoloFuel, the credit system for Holo's hosting network. As of Oct. 25, 2026, Holo's currency page says HoloFuel "has not launched" and that "Holo Limited does not currently offer token exchange, conversion or redemption services." So holding HOT does not give you a working claim on anything today. Meanwhile the framework keeps shipping: Holochain 0.7.1 was released on Oct. 14, 2026.
Three names, three different things
- Holochain is the open-source framework. The project describes it as "an end-to-end open source P2P app framework". Its intellectual property is held by the Holochain Foundation.
- Holo Limited is the hosting company. According to the Holochain Foundation, Holo Ltd. is fully owned by the Foundation, was set up to earn revenue for the open-source mission, and ran an ICO in 2018 to fund parts of the network.
- HOT (HoloToken) is the token Holo Ltd. sold in that 2018 ICO. The price of HOT says nothing about the state of the Holochain software, and the reverse is also true.
What HOT was designed to be
Holo's currency page says HOT "was designed and sold in 2018 as a placeholder token". The 2018 materials said HOT "would be redeemable for HoloFuel at a 1:1 ratio once the HoloFuel system became operational". Holo cites the 2018 Green Paper and later whitepapers as the documents behind this. HoloFuel itself is described as "the mutual-credit utility currency for accounting within the hosting network."
Two more details on the same page affect any future swap:
- Holo says it "does not operate token exchange services."
- It says any future HOT redemption or conversion "would be provided by appropriately licensed third-party entities." Holo itself would not run it.
The page gives no launch date for HoloFuel and no timeline for redemption.
On-chain facts about the token
The HOT contract on Ethereum (0x6c6ee5e31d828de241282b9606c8e98ea48526e2) is named HoloToken and uses 18 decimals. Etherscan showed a maximum total supply of 177,619,433,541.14 HOT and 113,167 holder addresses on Oct. 25, 2026. The holder count changes constantly, and one person can control many addresses.
Can HOT be redeemed for HoloFuel now?
Which of these is your situation?
Do you hold HOT and want to swap it for HoloFuel now?
- Yes → No swap is offered now
- No → next question
Do you pay for hosting, or plan to?
Source: Currency: Pricing, payments and HoloFuel (holo.host), accessed Oct 18, 2026Are you building on Holochain or running it?
Source: GitHub - holochain/holochain: The current, performant & industrial strength… (github.com), accessed Oct 18, 2026
Holo Limited says it does not currently offer HOT exchange, conversion or redemption, and HoloFuel has not launched.
Source: Currency: Pricing, payments and HoloFuel (holo.host), accessed Oct 18, 2026Holo Limited says hosting is scoped and priced for each deployment and settled in national currencies such as USD and EUR. Micro-payments are not supported until HoloFuel is implemented as the internal accounting system.
Source: Currency: Pricing, payments and HoloFuel (holo.host), accessed Oct 18, 2026The Holochain repository holds core libraries, not the end-user runtime. Its README calls the code initial Beta and still going through security reviews.
Source: GitHub - holochain/holochain: The current, performant & industrial strength… (github.com), accessed Oct 18, 2026The sources here cover the framework and the token. They describe no separate service for this case.
Source: GitHub - holochain/holochain: The current, performant & industrial strength… (github.com), accessed Oct 18, 2026 · CoinDesk, accessed Oct 18, 2026Outcomes describe what Holo Limited's currency page and the Holochain README say as of Oct. 18, 2026. They do not describe the status of any exchange or third party.
How Holo hosting works today
HoloFuel is not live, so Holo hosting does not run on it. Holo says hosting "is scoped and priced per deployment, and settled in national currencies such as USD and EUR." It adds that until HoloFuel is in place as the internal accounting system, "micro-payments and direct peer payments between customers and hosts will not be supported."
Holo's homepage currently lists two products and publishes no prices:
- Holo EdgeNodes: "dedicated always-on nodes that hold your application's data and stay online when your users aren't". They can run on dedicated hardware, a VPS or a large cloud provider.
- Holo Web Bridge: "HTTP endpoints that make your DHT data readable by any browser, script or device."
How Holochain is built
Holochain avoids a single global ledger. On the project's site, each user's device signs and stores that user's own data. Other peers check the data against the app's rules, and invalid data triggers a network-wide response. The project sums this up as "BitTorrent + Git + Cryptographic Signatures" and calls the result secure and resilient "without servers or blockchains." It also calls its design agent-centric, meaning there is no network-wide consensus step.
How mature it is
- Releases: Holochain 0.6.0 came out on Nov. 19, 2025, 0.7.0 on July 30, 2026, and 0.7.1 on Oct. 14, 2026. A 0.8.0 development pre-release (0.8.0-dev.12) followed on Oct. 19, 2026.
- Self-assessment: The core repository README still says: "This code is in initial Beta release. It is still undergoing security reviews and hardening of network protocols." This is the project's own judgement, not an independent audit.
- Who the repository is for: The repository holds the core libraries, "not the runtime intended for end-users". People who only want to run Holochain apps are pointed to the Holochain Launcher.
- License: The code is released under the Cryptographic Autonomy License (CAL-1.0).
What this means for each type of reader
- You hold HOT and want HoloFuel: No route exists now. HoloFuel has not launched and Holo offers no redemption. Treat the 1:1 design as a 2018 plan, not a current right.
- You want Holo hosting: It is quoted per deployment and paid in currencies such as USD or EUR. You do not pay in HOT or HoloFuel.
- You build on Holochain: Releases are frequent and the 0.7 line is current. The code is still labelled Beta and is still going through security review.
- You want to track the token's status: Holo's currency page is the primary source. Watch it for any HoloFuel launch or redemption announcement.
Limitations: the HOT and HoloFuel status rests on one source, Holo Limited's own currency page, which is undated. We checked it on Oct. 25, 2026.
