Decentralization is one of the pillars of the crypto industry. Having no middlemen or service providers is one of the strongest points of the emerging sector. The growth within the space, in terms of investors, users and developers, is a testament to the desire for more decentralization. One area where significant development is taking place is communication. Tether and Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino spearheads the development of Holepunch, a peer-to-peer (P2P) application platform.
One of the first applications on the platform is Keet, a video communication application. Keet is being developed in collaboration with the Hypercore open-source protocol team.
A P2P network enables data sharing without the need for a centralized server. Unlike a client-server application, P2P architecture does not use a central server to manage request processing. This means, that peers can communicate with one another directly. P2P is a significant strength in crypto, absent in centralized industries.
Holepunch makes use of BitTorrent-like computer networking architecture. Moreover, the platform plans to release an open-source software development kit (SDK) in December 2022. Keet is the first application being developed on Holepunch. Additionally, Keet can support far higher quality video connections. Centralized video streaming companies are compelled to compress data to meet global demand.
Furthermore, Ardoino believes that users already possess the processing power required for a P2P network. He stated in an episode of The Scoop,
“The biggest lie ever is that our hardware, our devices, our iPods, phones don’t have the capacity to do great things — actually, they are much more powerful than what we think.”
Which crypto will the platform use?
Ardoino spoke to Bitcoin Magazine and said that the team is working on integrating Bitcoin’s Lightning Network into the SDK. Users can stream Bitcoin to content creators, make frequent P2P payments, and provide tips through Holepunch apps, among other things. Furthermore, Tether’s USDT will also be supported by the SDK.
Ardoino told Bitcoin Magazine,
“Bitcoin and Tether payments are add-on features to provide payment rails/options for people using applications built on top of Holepunch or plan to build/offer services through the Holepunch network.”
Holepunch also aims to provide primitives to support digital P2P payment options. However, this will be in a non-custodial form.