A brief history
The Holo Network was founded by Eric Harris-Braun and Arthur Brock in 2017, both of whom have extensive experience in smart contract coding. Holo is a distributed peer-to-peer (P2P) hosting platform for all the Holochain applications, known as hApps. The goal of the Holo project is to act as a bridge between decentralized Holochain apps and the existing centralized web which we use daily. With the Holo Network, anyone can generate a passive source of income by loaning out the computational power of their devices. In doing so, users become hosts, earning rewards in HoloFuel (analogous to Ethereum gas). The benefit of Holo is that the network’s software runs in the background without disrupting the activities on your device. Additionally, users decide their hosting price and choose which hApps they want to serve. One of the biggest differences between blockchain technology and Holochain is its use of a distributed hash table (DHT) mechanism for verifying and confirming transactions Unlike typical Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake consensus models that are implemented on typical blockchains, Holo’s DHT hash chain approach is ‘agent centric’. This means that individual nodes themselves are verifying and confirming transactions. They then broadcast this to the rest of the network for transparency, with neighbouring nodes double-checking the verification.
HOT in practice
HOT tokens were launched in 2018 in an ICO. They were sold to users as IOU tokens which can be redeemed as HoloFuel tokens. The funds that are raised from the HOT sales are being used to fund the development of Holo and Holochain. When the Holofuel token is launched, regardless of the past monetary value of either HOT or HoloFuel, HOT will be accepted as a straight swap (1:1) during the first 6-months following the launch. After this swapping period the prices may vary from 1:1. As a mutual-credit currency backed by an asset, HoloFuel tokens can only be obtained by exchanging your computational power on the Holo network. The fundamental purpose of the HoloFuel token is to reward hosts for lending their power.
