HoloChain, challenges of a decentralized Internet

Published in

Game of Life

5 min readMar 31, 2020

HoloChain is a software infrastructure for p2p applications created by Arthur Brock and Eric Harris Braun in 2017 that aims at a more correct and decentralized internet not controlled by governments or some companies.
Holochain is an alternative to BlocChain.

Holochain is a platform that seeks a better exploitation of the internet network to connect users without subjecting them to the centralization policy of big companies like Google or Facebook.

An alternative to the BlockChain

The Blockchain is a technology for storing and transmitting information without a control device based on a distributed database whose information is sent by users.
Although the Blockchain was one of the first technologies to promote centralized architecture, it has limitations that Holochain overcomes.

Holochain VS Blockchain

Blockchain (used by Bitcoin and Ethereum) consumes a lot of energy and contributes greatly to the pollution of the earth, which is not the case with Holochain, which guarantees that it will be 100,000 times less polluting thanks to an unlimited network power that each user of the network will use to support the infrastructure.

Security

One of the major points ‘of a technology is its security, on this point there is no need to worry because Holochain aims to have a secure infrastructure with a distributed hash system (DHT).
During a transaction, contrary to the blockchain which has an asynchronous and individual system (the transaction is done on one side only), Hoclochain it proceeds from two sides (debtor and creditor) which will be the only ones to have a cryptographic key which guarantees the maximum security in the long term.

Anonymous

The Blockchain is a totally anonymous technology, this way of doing things has many advantages because no organization can have access to the different transactions.
Unfortunately, even the ill-intentioned can take advantage of its benefits and use the Blockchain for Mafia and other shady practices without being worried at all.
Luckily, there is Holochain, which is not totally anonymous to precisely address this problem. It is possible that transactions may be verified to help deter “mafia” networks, but despite this verification, users will be informed when their data has been reviewed, they will also know who has accessed their data, which is not the case in a centralized network where we have no idea where, how and by whom our data is sold or used.

Some technical terms to know about Holochain

As you go through the documentation, you will probably find unknown or familiar terms used in surprising ways. Here are the definitions we use.

Holochain DNA

Each Holochain (happ) application has a configuration file named DNA in json format which has a set of key attributes/values that represent the name of the application, the description of the application and its version,…

Holo fuel

The Holo fluel is a currency based on the Holochain which is a contractual obligation of service, exchangeable for accommodation. Holo Fuel is a mutual credit accounting system capable of performing billions of micro transactions daily. It is primarily used by Holochain application providers (hApp) to pay Holo hosts for their services.

HoloPorts

Energy-efficient, ready-to-use personal servers.
Holoports allow to host holo apps, anyone can own a holoport, the more holoports there are, the more computing power there is.
A holoport can allow its owner to earn holofluels.
Holoports can be obtained from the holostore. Prices currently range from $120 to $1100.

Holochain or happs applications

Holo and applications that use Holo are based on Holochain. Holochain allows a distributed Web with user autonomy integrated directly into its architecture and protocols.

Holochain application list

Holochain is a project in full expansion, which means that currently there are not yet a large number of applications based on this technology, which represents a major challenge for developers.
The goal of the holo company is to create clones of centralized applications such as (Facebook, Twitter, Google,…) in a decentralized architecture for a more human internet.
This is how Unter (a clone of Uber) or Clutter (a clone of Twitter) exists for example. You can find a more extensive list of holo applications.

Who can create holochain applications (happ)

Any developer with some programming knowledge can create a happ.
Happs applications are based on WebAssembly, which is a world wide web standard for application development.
Any programming language using this standard, such as C#, Node.js or Python, can contribute to creating a happ.
Holochain recommends the Rust programming language, and there are many Holochain projects written in Rust on Github. here is the repository of the holochain project.

Resources

Holochain technical paper
Holochain: http://holochain.org
Holo : http://holo.host
Ceptr: http://ceptr.org
Metacurrency: http://metacurrency.org

Conclusion

Holochain is a recent technology with huge ambitions and aiming at a new decentralized internet where everyone will be able to have total control over their data. The current state of the project is only a tiny part of the objectives that holochain is pursuing, it is possible to see new opportunities that can be offered by holochain in the coming months, the project is in full evolution.
Based on its holochain ambitions can be an opportunity for developers by creating fully decentralized solutions that can have paid services (developers will receive holofluel) and for simple users holochain will allow them to no longer be afraid of who controls the data, in short to be master of their data.

Thanks for your reading and this tutorial is made by my brother Loicyabili who I thank for his work and dedication in technology!