Holo

What is Holo (HOT)?

Holo is a unique cryptocurrency project that takes both its name and its technological inspiration from the concept of a hologram.

A hologram is a whole image that is constructed from many individual beams of light. Similarly, Holo is a distributed platform that brings together the histories presented by its individual nodes.

This approach is often termed agent-centric, as opposed to the data-centric approach of standard distributed ledger technologies. Nodes in most blockchains and distributed acrylic graphs agree on a single version of the data. In the case of Holo, each node maintains its own version.

This unique structural approach is Holo’s take on speed and scale. Blockchains that require data to be verified by the entire network take time, while Holo’s nodes don’t need to wait for this sort of system-wide consensus.

Holo is designed to be a framework that plays host to a wide variety of distributed applications. Each app is its own “Holochain,” and local circles of peers ensure data integrity without centralized authorities.

These circles of peers are user devices connecting directly to each other in secure networks. This gives users autonomy since the software is installed locally. It also gives them the power and redundancy of cloud software.

Holo as an ecosystem combines the Holo hosting service with Holochain-powered apps bound together by the HoloFuel internal currency.

When Was Holo Launched?

The Holo project began in December 2016, although many suggest that its true genesis was the MetaCurrency Project. The MetaCurrency Project, which envisioned tools and technology for future p2p currencies, predates even Bitcoin.

Holo, then known as Holochain, held its ICO from the 29th of March to the 28th of April, 2018. 25 billion HOT were released as ERC-20 tokens, with the supply increasing to over 133 billion. This sale raised over 30,000 ETH for the project.

75% of the HOT supply was distributed in the public crowd sale, and 25% was kept back by the project’s founders to fund further development.

Who are the Founders of Holo?

Holo was founded by MetaCurrency Project veterans Arthur Brock and Eric Harris-Braun. The pair had a long history of working together in the past, and this relationship directed the early development of Holo. In fact, Holo was partially modeled after a previous collaboration between the two, a platform called Ceptr.

Arthur Brock is an expert in developing alternative currency systems, also having founded Geek Gene. He also co-founded social enterprise incubator Emerging Leader Labs as well as open-source education “starter kit” Agile Learning Centers. Brock was also named a fellow of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship in March 2019.

Like his colleague, Eric Harris-Braun, too, is an experienced coder and entrepreneur. He co-founded Emerging Leader Labs alongside Brock and also founded p2p communication software company Glass Bead Software. He co-founded Harris-Braun Enterprises, a freelance software development and consulting firm, in 2003. Harris-Braun has also served on the advisory board of the Schumacher Center for New Economics.

How Does Holo Work?

Holo allows web users to reach p2p Holochain apps through the distributed cloud-hosting network. The Holo hosting network is powered by HoloFuel, which is an internal micro currency.

Holochain is lightweight, secure, and versatile, which makes it perfect for everyday apps. Conceptually, it functions like a combination of BitTorrent, Git, and Cryptographic signatures.

Holochain is user-friendly, and the system is quite simple. It can be broken down into four key pillars:

You install an app that signs and stores your data on your device.

You share your public data with a random set of peers.

Your peers validate the data against the app’s rules before storing it.

Invalid data triggers a network-wide security response.

The Holochain suite consists of a runtime that manages running applications and provides persistence and networking. Alongside that, it also features a development environment and a software development kit (SDK) written for Rust developers. It also provides a set of tools for app development and testing.

These tools encourage the creation of application back ends as collections of code packages. They reinforce the application’s core business logic and define the public API with which clients interact.

What Makes Holo Unique?

Holo is unique in the cryptocurrency industry because it doesn’t function like a blockchain or a DAG, which are the two most common forms of distributed ledger technologies.

Rather, Holo employs distributed hash tables (DHT). DHT allows individual nodes to verify and confirm transactions instead of forcing the entire set of nodes on the system to come to a consensus.

DHT is extremely beneficial when it comes to scalability. As blockchains grow with more nodes being deployed, more energy is required across the system to confirm transactions. Since nodes operate individually on Holo, this isn’t an issue.

Holo also doesn’t have any staking or mining, which means that the network can’t be subjected to any majority attacks.

Holochain is serverless and resilient for app developers, and it is easy to get to other apps. No HTTP clients are involved, merely function calls with optional access control.

For blockchain developers, Holochain is scalable, forkable, and extremely configurable, as it allows them to set their own terms. They can customize privileges, governance policies, and consensus rules as desired.

How is the Holo Network Secured?

As mentioned, Holo is resistant to majority attacks since it doesn’t use mining, staking, or even BFT algorithms. Rather, Holo reinforced the trustworthiness of critical data via peer validation.

Here, each piece of public data is witnessed, validated, and stored by a random selection of devices. Together, all cooperating participants detect modified or invalid data. They then spread evidence of corrupt actors and take steps to counteract threats.

What is the Use of HOT?

The HoloToken, more commonly known as the HOT token, is an ERC-20 standard token on the Ethereum blockchain. Its main use is as a form of pre-booking for HoloFuel, the internal currency powering Holo hosting.

HOT was offered as a pre-sale of cloud-hosting services in Holo’s 2018 ICO. These HOT tokens will be exchangeable 1:1 for HoloFuel on the Holo Reserve.

App publishers will pay hosts in HoloFuel to rent their extra data storage and computing power. According to the Holo documentation, HoloFuel is a mutual-credit cryptocurrency capable of billions of daily microtransactions.

HoloFuel is valued in computational units, which are a combination of bandwidth, storage, and processing time. In a sense, that makes it a “gas”-like currency for the Holo ecosystem.

Who Controls Holo?

Holo is stewarded by the Holochain Foundation. The organization’s stated mission is “to support and embody social coherence through computing frameworks that enable collective intelligence and collaboration among peers.”

Holo’s founders also created a company called Holo Ltd., which is behind the network. It was Holo Ltd. that issued the project’s 2018 ICO and funded the components of the ecosystem, such as Holo hosting apps, HoloFuel, and the HoloPort hardware.

However, Holo Ltd. is fully owned by the Holochain Foundation, and Holochain itself remains an open-source project.

How Much HOT Is In Circulation?

HOT has a circulating supply of 173 billion HOT, with a total of over 177 billion HOT minted thanks to demand during its April 2018 ICO.

HOT can be swapped 1:1 with HoloFuel, although it was decided in early 2019 that swapping between the two would not result in an immediate burn of HOT. Rather, swapped HOT will be kept as a reserve currency to provide liquidity to HoloFuel holders.

How Do You Buy HOT?

You can buy HOT on several major exchange platforms, including Ethereum-based decentralized exchanges like Uniswap. It is traded against cryptocurrencies like ETH as well as stablecoins such as USDT. Many fiat trading pairs are also available on centralized exchange platforms.

Is It Possible to Buy Holo Instantly?

HOT is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token, so settlement depends on the Ethereum blockchain’s performance at the time. Congestion and gas can make things difficult at times unless you are using a layer 2-enabled DEX to trade HOT.

Buying HOT on a centralized exchange platform will be faster, but no actual settlement will take place until and unless you withdraw your HOT tokens into your own wallet.

How Do You Store HOT?

HOT can be stored in an exchange account or a non-custodial wallet under your control. Since HOT is an ERC-20 token, all you’ll need is an ERC-20-compatible wallet.

Hot wallet options like Metamask are extremely popular for Ethereum tokens, but since there isn’t any HOT staking, cold storage is an equally good option.

Holo Energy Consumption

Holo’s main energy consumption comes from its HoloPort hosting devices. These HoloPorts serve as bridges between the community running distributed Holochain applications and visitors from the mainstream web.

HoloPorts can run 24/7, according to Holo, and use between 15 and 45 watts. However, these HoloPorts will eventually be phased out, with a Holo Host OS image or a Holo app taking their place and running on low-power computers, including the Raspberry Pi system.

Is HOT a Good Investment?

Holo is an ambitious project doing things in its own way, with plenty of moving parts. From Holo hosting to Holochain and all of its developer tools and even HoloPort hardware, Holo was never going to come to fruition in a short space of time.

Many criticize this aspect of the project, given that it has been in development as far back as 2016 amid claims to have originated prior even to Bitcoin’s launch.

Nevertheless, Holo’s vision for a distributed marketplace for cloud hosting peer-to-peer applications is a compelling one. The Holo roadmap suggests that the project’s full feature review is getting ever closer. If Holo can stay on track and fulfill its promises, not many would bet against rapid adoption.