Holo is a community committed to growing a truly peer-to-peer Internet. Holo helps accomplish this by allowing anyone to access distributed applications simply by typing a URL into a web browser. We believe that when everyone can explore the distributed Internet, the Internet will shift, and change the world in powerful ways by empowering individuals, fostering trust, and helping build thriving communities.

However, Holo isn’t just good for the world. It’s good for you too. Holo incentivizes you to share your computer’s spare capacity by rewarding you with our secure cryptocurrency — Holo fuel. When people use your hosting capacity the companies providing the app you host can reward you in cryptocurrency. 

By pooling together our computing resources we make possible an entire network of distributed apps that are free from centralized, corporate control. By putting that scale of control back into the hands of users, we enable humanity to access entirely new possibilities for how we do economics, governance, medicine, and community.

Holo is human-centered. It leverages solid cryptography and combines proven platforms for managing shared data integrity to bring people together in more powerful and effective ways. Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies run on an architecture called blockchain. Blockchain has inspired many to imagine new decentralized ways to organize ourselves and our data. However, these approaches have limited performance and burn massive amounts of computing and electricity. Holo runs on Holochain — a next-generation platform that is more scalable, exponentially faster, far more energy efficient, and 10,000x cheaper than blockchain. By backing this project now, you not only help us launch the Holo network in Spring 2018, but also lay a foundational piece of Holo’s network infrastructure by purchasing one of our HoloPorts, a preconfigured hosting node.

DISCLAIMER: You do not receive any cryptocurrency rewards for purchasing a HoloPort. In the future, you must provide hosting services for P2P web apps, and only then will you receive payment from the application providers for services you've performed.

The HoloPort is an easy and direct way to support the distributed Internet. Holo will use HoloPorts to provide a stable foundation for both distributed applications and personal data in the network to be hosted by the community, rather than by a corporation.
 

We believe a distributed Internet must be funded by a wide spectrum of backers for it to best serve the diverse needs of our world. That is why we’ve chosen to not accept venture capital.

Our dedicated team has been working more than a decade (primarily as volunteers) to create a more resilient Internet that will work better for all of its citizens.

But we need your help to take it to the world! Your backing now enables the launch of a broad, secure, and user-ready network beginning in spring of 2018.

Buying a HoloPort will help create the stable, secure hosting foundation necessary for a distributed Internet in this new world.

Stand up, and support the Internet we all need!

“We are so used to these systems being manipulated that people just think that’s how the Internet works. We need to think about what it should be like.”

—Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, 2017

The Internet was envisioned as an open platform to allow anyone to share information, access opportunities, and collaborate across geographical boundaries. But over the past twenty years, the web has concentrated power in the hands of a few giants.

Google now controls 88% of search advertising online. Nearly 80% of mobile operating systems installed are Android. More than half of all online purchases happen on Amazon. Facebook controls 77% of mobile social media.

Because of that increasing centralization, the Internet is failing us in many ways.

Today our online movements are tracked, logged, analyzed, and sold. We’re manipulated by platforms seeking to addict and distract us; they want us to spend more time on their sites and buy more products from their advertisers. This is not an Internet that serves us, it’s an Internet that serves the interests of others.

A centralized Internet makes us more vulnerable to hacking, censorship, tracking, and numerous other abuses. And because we have little say in how these systems we rely upon operate, we aren't able to improve how they work for us. The centralized nature of today's Internet makes us less able to adapt to change, and less capable of confronting the complex challenges that we face.

Today, most web traffic passes through corporate web servers, putting them in the middle of our interactions. But by replacing the function of corporate servers with our own computers we cut out the middlemen and take back control. Our voices can be heard again.

User-run apps are more agile and responsive than their centralized counterparts since users can set the rules and change them as desired. Plus, when we are in control of our own data, we can use it in new ways.

• Imagine a rideshare app run by the riders and drivers without a monopoly in the middle dictating terms. Holo hosts would get paid for helping host a website where anyone can book a ride.
• Imagine apps that help emergency responders coordinate with one another in the aftermath of a fire or hurricane, without needing to have a connection all the way back to some Silicon Valley data center. Unlike today's centralized applications, apps on Holo run just fine on a local network.
• Imagine a community of rural homeowners who generate, store, and share electricity using solar panels, windmills, small water turbines, and backup batteries. Holo fuel is custom-designed to handle exactly these sorts of micro-transactions.

Holo includes a secure micropayment cryptocurrency engine which web app creators can use to pay you when you host their apps. With Holo you’ll be able to share the capacity of your computer just like you might rent out a spare room on Airbnb. Holo makes this world available to anyone with a computer and Internet connection, not just an elite class of miners and developers.

The easiest way to support the distributed network and earn Holo fuel is by purchasing a HoloPort. Since our objective is the dissemination of devices dedicated to running the network, we’re offering this personal server nearly at cost. HoloPorts are “plug and play,” meaning they come with the software already installed and are optimized to run Holo. Just plug it in, follow the instructions, and start hosting the network to earn Holo fuel.

HoloPorts come in three sizes: HoloPort Nano, HoloPort, and HoloPort+, each representing a different capacity for hosting.

Beyond HoloPorts, we’re also offering tools for anyone interested in building or operating distributed applications. The distributed Internet is not limited to the tech savvy only, which is why we offer Training Camps and App Design Consultations tailored to your needs. Please reach out if you have any questions about these offerings.

We also have designer tees and rad stickers that come free with many of the perks.

Disclaimer: These are prototype stickers. The real stickers you will receive are True 3D holographic. They use the same holographic technology as a credit-card's security holograph, and are a lot cooler than the ones shown here.

In the event that we do not reach our goal of $200K, 100% of funds will be returned to our visionary backers.

So what kind of apps run on Holo? Imagine running Wikipedia without centralized servers and the annual fundraisers needed to maintain those servers. Twitter fans have looked into buying Twitter to keep it from being purchased by outside companies that will ruin it. What if we could just run it ourselves, for cheap?

Holochain was released in Alpha only last month, so despite the large number of ideas people have, apps in this space are just beginning to be built. We're in need of developers with great ideas to come build the distributed apps of their dreams with Holo.

Current prototype applications include:

• Clutter: a P2P Twitter clone
• Fractal Wiki: a serverless Wiki of cards within cards within cards
• HoloChat: a Slack-like multi-channel chat room for teams
• DPKI: a secure, decentralized cryptographic key management tool

If you’re interested in learning more about building apps with Holo, join our online chat room (click the chat bubbles icon in the footer of our website).

We are raising funds through an Initial Community Offering to launch the Holo network (sorry, ICO not available in the U.S.). Although Holochain has reached Alpha release, the Holo software is not complete yet. Holo fuel will not function until Holo is built and launched in the spring of 2018. So the ability to earn Holo fuel depends on the success of this crowdfund, the ICO, and the software launch. 

What is Holo fuel?

• A completely peer-to-peer cryptocurrency.
• Optimized for high speed and minimal fees.
• The currency that you earn for hosting on Holo, and can redeem to pay your bills.
• Completely accountable and transparent crypto-accounting, operating by known and shared rules running on every host machine.

How is Holo fuel different?

• Mutual Credit: Unlike other cryptocurrencies, Holo fuel is not just tokens created from nothing, used primarily for speculation. It is a double-entry crypto-accounting framework that provides scalability, transparency, and accountability.
• Asset-Backed: Holo fuel is backed by the computing power of hosts like you across the globe.
• Value-Stable: The value of Holo fuel is connected to the computing capacity of the network of hosts. This capacity evolves and changes slowly and isn't subject to huge spikes and crashes in the way that other speculative tokens are.

How can I use Holo fuel?

• Spend it through a variety of apps and online marketplaces
• Redeem fuel earned by hosting for other currencies to pay your bills
• Borrow it to pay for things, based on your proven hosting track record

Nervous about digital currencies? Don't worry, you've probably been using digital money via bank accounts and credit cards for a long time. The main difference here is that the group making the software is 100% accountable to the community using it. Your system can check validity of any transaction or transaction history to ensure you are only dealing with trustworthy parties.

Holo fuel marks the beginning of a new era of cryptocurrencies backed by the capacity provided by people. All of the currency supply is correlated to building and providing the computing power of the Holo network. We always create that value together.

The Holo ICO is different from other ICOs, normally referred to as Initial Coin Offerings. One crucial distinction is that we are using data from this Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to indicate demand for our product and to confidently estimate the size of our initial community of developers, hosts, and users. Our intention is to run an ICO sale that is as inclusive as possible, meaning future Holo hosts and users will not be pushed out by a few people buying all available tokens within minutes of the ICO launch. We also want to act responsibly by having a meaningful cap on the amount of credits we allow ourselves to sell, instead of just raising as much as possible.

In addition:

• The Holo ICO WILL NOT be transacted on the Indiegogo platform.
• We cannot include people in the United States, South Korea, and China because of legal restrictions.
• Whitelisting is now open! (Whitelisting is a process of proving who you are and what country you reside in.) Whitelist for the ICO.
• We are waiting on regulatory approval before announcing the launch of the ICO. We'll post an update on the campaign and email all whitelisted users as soon as we know the official start-date.
• HoloToken (symbol: HOT) is our ERC20 token implementation that acts as a surrogate for Holo fuel. Holo fuel is the mutual credit currency (not a token!) that will ultimately be used in the Holo ecosystem later this year.
• The supply of HoloTokens we release is linked directly to the the amount of participation in the crowdfunding campaign.
• To release more HoloTokens, participate in our crowdfunding campaign!
• Basic ICO Information
• Holo ICO Knowledge Base

Our intention is for the Holo ICO together with this crowdfunding campaign to catalyze the Holo ecosystem.

Co-founders Eric Harris-Braun and Art Brock met in the summer of 2004 at a conference about local currencies. At the time, both were searching for alternatives to the dysfunction and bureaucracy that accompany working within traditional hierarchical organizations, and suspected that currencies — or the way we signal each other — might provide some answers. Art had run a successful software company that operated as a “boss-less environment,” and he would soon go on to found a network of student-directed schools, called Agile Learning Centers, of which there are now over thirty locations worldwide. Eric had been designing peer-to-peer networks and software since 1991 and had run several successful software companies.

In 2007, Eric and Art formed the MetaCurrency Project.  Their aim: to apply insights from nature to the design of software and social patterns, so that we can enable the next economy — one that is distributed, equitable, and regenerative.

Though our motivation and designs differ from those underlying Bitcoin and blockchain, we’re grateful for the way in which that movement has inspired people to experiment with new tools and new patterns of coordination.  You can probably imagine how difficult it was explaining these possibilities to people before blockchain (not to mention before Airbnb and Uber).

Over the past decade, there have been many brilliant minds that have contributed their insights and efforts.  However, over the past year, we have grown from a half-dozen volunteers to a 28 person distributed team hailing from around the world. Some of us moved across the country, or even across the globe to volunteer, and more recently work, on this project. Many of us have shared housing for months at a time, in locations ranging from California to Portugal to Germany to Scotland, some stepping away from jobs and others from PhD programs because this project feels so important.

We come from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences, but are united by our passion for this project and our vision of a more regenerative and thriving world. 

We’re proud of what Holo has become and we’re very excited to share it with you!

Technical Questions
 

Q: What are crypto apps?

A: Crypto apps are distributed applications — meaning they’re run and hosted by all their users rather than a central entity — that are secured by cryptography.

Q: Does running Holo expose my computer to bad stuff? Can Holo apps access my files?

A: In short, no. Holo runs on a virtual machine inside the Holochain engine. Apps on Holo can only read from and write to Holo-related data stores. They don’t have direct access to your computer’s underlying file system or other system resources.

Q: How do I know Holo won’t sell my data?

A: Holo will not act as a data flow intermediary, and therefore it won’t have your data. The only data Holo could theoretically sell is DNS request data, but that’s no different that any other ISP or CDN on the Internet. Furthermore, Holo has no incentive to do this. Holo is funded initially by crowdfunding and then entirely by transaction fees, with the aim to bring all users into the Holochain ecosystem and put itself out of business in doing so.

Q: Will Holo be open source?

A: Like all Holochain applications, Holo’s source code will be visible, transparent, and hashed. This is how people know they are running the official version, and it is openly subject to security review. However, initial releases may not be licensed for unconstrained re-use. This is to deter a possible explosion of “crap-coins” too early in the maturity of the agent-centric architecture. However, once our approach proves stable, we’re excited to open the license and have a whole new ecosystem of mutual credit, asset-backed cryptocurrencies which can use the Holo codebase as a starting point.

Q: Is this for illegal activity?

A: Holo is not designed to facilitate illegal activity. When you use apps on Holo, all your actions are cryptographically signed by you. This means anonymity is very hard to achieve with Holo, which makes illegal activity less desirable. You can also customize the apps you put your computing power towards hosting. If you’re concerned about legality of your online support, you can choose to only contribute hosting to apps and organizations you trust.

Q: Will there be any transaction fees?

A: Holo is a mechanism for the maintenance and growth of distributed infrastructure and will be charging a transaction fee of approximately ≤1% toward that end (far less than transaction fees in similar systems). As the system develops, users will have an increasing say in how that money is spent. Our utmost objective is to transition users of the conventional Web to a fully distributed Internet with Holo serving as the bridge.

Q: Will Holo use lots of electricity?

A: Running Holo on your computer or using a dedicated like a HoloPort will use some amount of power (just like any computer). But, as a result of this power consumption you’ll be gaining access and contributing to a community-based Internet free of censorship and corporate control. We think that’s a pretty good trade. Also the current methods people use to run distributed apps are extremely wasteful of electricity, and Holochain is a big improvement on blockchain in this regard.

Q: Will there be an app store?

A: Yes! One of the most important Holo apps will be an app store from which users can download distributed applications.

Q: How would the repeal of Net Neutrality affect Holo?

A: The repeal of Net Neutrality legislation would mean that Internet service providers (ISP) could discriminate against websites they don’t like by slowing down access to them or even blocking them entirely. holo.host, along with other websites that offer access to distributed applications, could be affected just as any website, however we think it unlikely that ISPs will behave in this way in the near future. As a side note, Holo fuel — our secure cryptocurrency — is an ideal currency for incentivizing the kind of microtransactions required to run a mesh network such as would be able to circumvent ISPs entirely.

Q: How can I mine Holo fuel?

A: “Mining” normally refers to the “proof-of-work” process in blockchain-based cryptocurrencies that results in a “miner” being rewarded with a crypto coin. Holo fuel is a mutual credit currency and is awarded when a user provides a valuable service, such as sharing their spare processing, bandwidth, and storage capacities. We call this process “proof-of-service.” You can earn Holo fuel by sharing computing power with other Holo users.

Q: How much Holo fuel can I expect to earn from hosting?

A: The amount of fuel you earn depends on the price you set for hosting and how much traffic you get. When the network launches we don’t know what the supply/demand balance will be. If demand is low, you may need to price competitively to attract traffic. You may even need to set your prices low at the beginning just to establish a bit of performance and reliability records for your device.

Q: Can I exchange Holo fuel for other currencies, such as Bitcoin or USD?

A: Yes. Through reserve accounts run by Holo, users who earn Holo fuel by providing hosting power to the community will be able to exchange their Holo fuel for various cryptocurrencies and national currencies.

Q: Do I have to purchase a HoloPort? Can I run Holo on my computer?

A: While the HoloPort is optimized for hosting the network and is the easiest way to be a part of the community and earn Holo fuel, you will be able to run Holo on a variety of devices. We encourage users to join our community through any means at their disposal. Our initial software will only be available for computers running Linux, such as the HoloPort. We will also offer tech support for HoloPorts.

Q: Are the HoloPorts shown here what the the real thing will look like?

A: The HoloPort case that appears in photos and videos is just a prototype case we used for motherboard and specs testing. We are in the process of engineering the new, sleeker case that’s shown in the renderings. The electronic internals are exactly the same as what already exists, but the case will be even better.

Q: Does it make sense to run more than one HoloPort? Can I buy two?

A: Yes, and yes. By purchasing additional HoloPorts you increase your capacity to serve the community and maximize your Holo fuel earning capacity.

Q: Can I start using my HoloPort right when it arrives in the mail?

A: Yes! But you’ll probably have to plug it in first ;) HoloPorts will ship in the spring of 2018, at which time there will be a network of functional apps to use and host.

Q: If Holo is distributed computing and hosting, why is there a HoloPort Nano Cloud?

A: The HoloPort Nano is intended for our more technically minded supporters. We wanted an option for the less technical and those who can't run a hardware hosting box to still be a part of the Holo community and P2P hosting. Besides, we have to run cloud instances anyway for our scalability testing and backup/failover network capacity if demand spikes quickly. There will likely be multiple regions around the globe where you will be able to choose to run your Holo Nano Cloud.

Q: Are there already functioning apps in the ecosystem?

A: The Holo ecosystem is still a design, but working Holochain apps — the same kind of apps that will run on Holo — very much exist and run on Holochain’s functional, Alpha 0 release.

Q: Why is it called Holo? Holochain?

A: For a number of reasons:

1. Whole. Holochain, the technology that the Holo software runs on, is a whole composed of disparate technologies: independent hashchains, cryptographic signing, and distributed data storage.
2. Holographic. Holographic storage means every node has a resilient sample of the whole. Cut a Holochain network in half and you would have two whole, functioning systems, not two partial, broken systems. This is how most natural systems work — think of DNA.
3. Holarchy. Holochains can build using other Holochains, making holistic patterns possible.

Q: Why use Holochain instead of blockchain?

A: Holochain and blockchain are built for fundamentally different use cases. Blockchain is relatively good for systems where it’s absolutely necessary to maintain global consensus. In life, though, most things don’t require this type of consensus. Holochain is much better than blockchain at anything that requires less than universal consensus:

1. It’s faster: Since Holochain apps don’t have to sync everyone on the network for every change that happens, they can run much faster than apps on blockchains.
2. It’s more efficient: With no global syncing or mining, Holochain is exponentially more efficient and affordable than blockchain. This means it can be used for things like accounting for microtransactions that blockchains cannot address.
3. It’s scalable: Holochain can support applications with billions of simultaneous users thanks to its parallel architecture.
4. It’s adaptable: Users can adapt apps and protocols to meet their needs.
5. It’s extendable: Users can extend applications by linking them to other applications.  Anything a user can read out of one app, they can write into another.

Q: How does Holochain compare to Hashgraph?

A: Like blockchain, Hashgraph is a method of generating global consensus. We believe global consensus is neither necessary nor desirable in most use cases and so have designed Holochain as a tool for the vast majority of human interactions that require less than global consensus. But more importantly, Holochain wasn’t designed to merely record a history of transactions, it was designed to create a broader infrastructure for facilitating social coordination via powerful, truly distributed apps. (You could say the same for IOTA, Stellar, and similar projects.) Also, Holochain is open source and Hashgraph is not.

Q: I’m not a software developer. Is there still a way for me to bring the Holo app I want to create for my community to life?

A: Yes, there are a variety of ways you can get involved in creating new apps! You can organize a Holochain hackathon where developers and visionaries come together to design and build Holochain applications. There you can team up with a developer who is excited to learn to code on Holochain, and design and build an app together. You can also purchase one of our App Engine perks to have our team of expert Holochain developers bring your app into the world.

Q: I resonate with your vision of communities that grow from the bottom-up. Can my project grow in and through the Holo ecosystem?

A: Absolutely. And thank you. One way would be to gather your crew and pool funds to purchase HoloPorts for co-management (think data co-op!). We’re also open to social forums and meetups that center more on your work than ours. Get in touch with a community organizer to explore some possibilities.

Customer Support

Q: Can I change my perk?

Each contribution is recorded as a separate contribution with a separate perk. If you would like to receive a new perk, you can do this in a separate contribution. If you'd like to upgrade your existing perk please contact us at help@holo.host. 


Q: Can I cancel my perk?

You can request a refund for your perk by logging into your Indiegogo account and canceling your order. If this option is not available to you, this means we have already received your funds, and we cannot refund your perk. We have already begun the process of manufacturing the HoloPorts, ordering items like T-shirts and True 3D holographic stickers, budgeting for events, and consultation perks. Thanks for your patience as we build something the world has never seen. We appreciate it. 


Q: How do I change my mailing address?

Provided we haven't marked your order as "Fulfilled" or "Order Locked," you can change the address and/or phone number associated with your contribution. You can do so on your Order Details page.

If we have begun fulfilling your order and it is marked "Order Locked," you will not be able to change your address on Indiegogo. In this case, please contact us at help@holo.host.

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