Holochain

What is Holochain? 

Holochain was co-founded by Arthur Brock, an experienced systems architect, and Eric Harris-Braun to create a more “human-centric internet” where relationships and online interactions are free of dictation from centralized servers and information is free of immoral commoditization. Holochain (HOT) is a cryptocurrency token acting as an ‘IOU’ for the main net launch of HoloFuel tokens.

Holochain is an open-source framework for creating peer-to-peer applications that are secure, reliable, and fast. The Holochain network allows developers access to an alternative to blockchains that are efficient, more cost-effective, and don’t rely on centralised data centers or storage. Effectively, this provides autonomy and availability of locally installed software for users. And it’s all made possible by Holochain’s distributed hash table (DHT) – more about that later!

Key Metrics

Ticker	HOT
Token Name	Holochain
Token Type/Protocol	ERC-20
Total Token Supply	177,619,433,541
Current Circulating Supply	See Coinmarketcap
Market Capitalisation	See Coinmarketcap
Token Creation Date	October 11, 2017
Can it be mined?	No

Key benefits

Below we discuss some of the key features of Holochain:

• Distributed Hash Tables: Holochain enables people to take control of their own data. It does this by using DHT, unlike conventional blockchain networks. This means that Holochain transactions do not need verification by the more costly universal consensus mechanisms.
• Improved scalability: As a result of the DHT structure, there is significantly less of a need for energy to produce Holo Tokens. What’s more, transactions can be processed more efficiently with less risk of bottlenecks or delays. As such, scalability is enhanced.
• Holo Tokens for HoloFuel: In the future, HOT can be traded for HoloFuel. HoloFuel serves dual purposes as both a reward to Holo Hosts for their input on the network, as well as a measure of computational power (that can be sold or exchanged). It is comparable to GAS on the Ethereum blockchain.
• Holochain applications: Holochain is designed to allow developers to easily create Holochain applications (hApps) for public use on the network. For non-developers, sharing their unused computational resources to power hApps presents an alternative passive income stream.
• No hosting fees: With the power and redundancy of cloud software, application developers, in turn, no longer must maintain and pay for cloud hosting connecting devices on the networks.
• Online security and data integrity: Online safety is ensured by mutual accountability. Each piece of data has a cryptographic audit trail connected to its author, and every user helps enforce shared application rules. Meanwhile, Holochain’s ‘subconscious’ responds to identified threats and adapts to network failures, making the experience safe and reliable.

Key risks

Below we discuss some of the main risks associated with Holochain:

• No KYC: ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) refers to a requisite verification process, usually carried out by a financial institution to confirm a customer’s identity. Holochain doesn’t use KYC. Users remain able to use consensus and build a blockchain, but it will lack interaction steps in the context of pseudo-anonymity.
• System errors or hacks: It is nearly impossible to say if data has legitimately been altered or compromised if there is a system error or hack on individual nodes.
• Self-regulated: Holochain’s DHT is ruled by their regulations which have not been proven yet. Therefore, the DHT may or may not be exploitable.

Holochain applications

Holochain provides its users with the opportunity to interact with Holochain apps on the network, as well as build and/or host them.

For developers: There are many tools on offer for developers, including Holochain Playground, HoloJS Wrapper, Holochain IDE App Builder, Holochain Rapid Application Development tools, and several others.

For non-developers: Holochain distributed apps provide an opportunity for generating a passive income via cryptocurrency. Users can achieve this by sharing any excess computational capacity to fuel the hApps. This can be done seamlessly via hardware extensions or pre-installed software.

Holochain app data validation rules

As mentioned, Holochain apps (hApps) can maintain shared data integrity without a global agreement, unlike the blockchain network. The reasoning behind this is based on real-world things, such as atoms, cells, and bodies. These things do not rely on a global ledger nor global consensus to maintain their individual and collective state integrity. Similarly, Holochain takes an agent-centric approach as opposed to a data-centric approach.

Holochain news and updates

Below we discuss some of the latest news and updates surrounding Holochain:

• Holo hosted version of Elemental Chat testing: Holochain has been testing the Holo hosted version of Elemental Chat to allow new participants to join and post live messages. The testing focuses on the speed improvement that will be updated with sharding to operate in full-sync mode.
• Fixed compatibility bug: A Holo app developer and Holo alumnus contributed a patch that fixes a compatibility bug in the Lair Keystore in the Holochain v0.0.102 release. Users can now use Windows-native Rust toolchain to build Holochain as their primary development OS.
• A faster and more effective user experience: Getting entries, links and making Zoom calls to other peers will soon be allowed as HDK is planning to combine all sorts of those functions.
• HOT token surge: HOT skyrocketed by over 4000% at the beginning of February 2021, hitting an all-time high of $0.03 on 5 April. The rise in the value of Holochain’s native cryptocurrency was mainly attributed to the US Patent and Trademark Office’s approval of Holo’s DHT.

Community & Whitepaper Links:

Official Website: https://holochain.org/
White Paper: https://github.com/holochain/holochain-proto/blob/whitepaper/holochain.pdf

Final words

Through the incorporation of a DHT, Holochain presents a fresh concept surrounding distributed technologies and decentralized applications. Holochain computer science combines the collective intelligence of blockchain, but with the typical blockchain drawbacks, including significant costs and network traffic. Holochain aims to provide a more human internet experience, as well as the opportunity to monetize any leftover computer capacity by exchanging it for HoloFuel tokens.

Disclaimer  

All investments are speculative and involve substantial risk and uncertainty. Investors should understand the nature of digital assets including the terms of return and the risk of assets. We encourage investors to fully understand the assets and the risk associated with them prior to making any investment.