Holo operates as a peer-to-peer distributed platform designed to host decentralized applications created with Holochain, a development framework that functions without blockchain technology. Holo aims to connect the general internet with Holochain-based apps by providing a marketplace and ecosystem where participants host these DApps, making them readily accessible.

The network will rely on a token named HoloFuel, which is currently undergoing testing and will serve as an accounting mechanism to compensate hosts for their services. In 2018, the project issued an ERC-20 token called HOT (or HoloToken) as an "IOU," which is intended to be exchanged for HoloFuel once the system launches. Development is ongoing, with open alpha and beta testing planned for 2021.

Arthur Brock and Eric Harris-Braun, both seasoned contract coders, established Holo. They began their collaboration on the initiative in December 2016 under the MetaCurrency Project, which creates technology intended to support a future peer-to-peer economy. The design of Holo draws partial inspiration from Ceptr, a cooperative P2P framework for DApps that the pair had previously developed.

Brock brings background experience in coding alternative currency systems through Geek Gene, a firm he founded that produced community-building instruments, including over 100 alternative currency options. He also co-established the social-enterprise incubator Emerging Leader Labs and created the open-source educational "starter kit" known as Agile Learning Centers. In March 2019, Brock received appointment as a fellow of the Edmond Hillary Fellowship, based in New Zealand.

Harris-Braun has been programming full time since 1988. He founded Glass Bead Software, which builds peer-to-peer communication tools, and co-founded Emerging Leader Labs with Brock. In 2003, he co-established Harris-Braun Enterprises, a consultancy and freelance software development business. Additionally, he has served on the advisory board for the Schumacher Center For New Economics.

According to its "green paper," Holo aims to serve as a bridge between Holochain, representing the crypto technology sphere, and everyday users. The project emphasizes innovations it claims will "enable a large shift in the landscape of crypto applications and currencies," such as allowing mainstream users to host P2P apps on the internet.

The Holo network depends on hosts who supply storage and processing power for DApps built on Holochain. Hosts either run background software on their computers to allocate extra processing power to these DApps or operate dedicated hardware like a HoloPort. In return, hosts earn HoloFuel, a token designed specifically for microtransactions. This design is expected to enable the Holo network to process billions of simultaneous transactions.

The business plan focuses on creating a P2P ecosystem of hosts and applications, comparing its intended impact on app hosting to the effects of Uber on the taxi industry and Airbnb on the hotel industry. Holo charges a fee on HoloFuel transactions, so its revenue model is directly tied to increasing the number of applications and hosts on the network.

Between March 2018 and April 2018, Holo conducted an "initial community offering." This demand-driven process resulted in the minting of 177.6 billion HOT tokens. Of this total, 133.2 billion HOT (75%) were designated for public sale, while 44.4 billion HOT (25%) were set aside for the company and team. Notably, the tokens allocated to the team did not have any lock-up or vesting requirements.

Upon the launch of HoloFuel, holders will be able to exchange their HOT tokens for HoloFuel at a one-to-one rate. In January 2019, Holo announced that these swapped HOT tokens would not be burned immediately; instead, they will be retained as a reserve currency to supply liquidity for HoloFuel users.

HoloFuel is designed without a maximum supply cap. It utilizes a dynamic credit system that permits users to hold negative balances. An algorithm will manage the supply, causing it to expand or contract based on demand and shifts in the balance between users with positive and negative accounts. The team aims for this mechanism to keep token prices relatively stable over short periods, avoiding extreme speculative volatility.

Holo serves as an intermediary linking the conventional internet with Holochain, a system that operates independently of standard blockchain infrastructure. Consequently, it avoids depending on global consensus for network security. Instead, every DApp maintains its own validation criteria and a local hash chain for storing cryptographically signed entries. As information moves through various nodes, randomly selected peers function as validators to confirm that the data adheres to established rules. These validators employ a gossip protocol to circulate valid information while identifying malicious data or blacklisting problematic participants.

The development team states that Holo aims for maximum decentralization to mitigate the dangers of concentrating power within a single entity. Communications between hosts and applications are protected by end-to-end encryption, and the platform relies on a server network distributed globally.

You can acquire Holo (HOT) on various crypto exchanges, including Binance, Bitrue, ProBit Exchange, and MXC.COM. The token is available for spot trading against fiat options like the U.S. dollar and the euro, as well as cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and the stablecoin Tether (USDT).