Tether, Bitfinex and Hypercore launch Holepunch

Tether, Bitfinex and Hypercore have announced the launch of Holepunch, a platform for creating fully encrypted peer-to-peer applications. 

Holepunch and its new first application, Keet

The launch comes with the release of the inaugural product, Keet, a fully encrypted video calling app. 

Keet is a completely free app that uses peer-to-peer connections to facilitate real-time audio/video calls, text chats, and file sharing. It is based on an innovative stack of distributed technology, including DHT (Distributed Holepunching) and distributed databases that allow users to find and connect with each other to form swarms, home and business networks. 

With Distributed Holepunching in particular, users can find and connect with each other using only their own authorized cryptographic key pairs.

Hypercore is the company behind the modular peer-to-peer stack of the same name, used by various projects around the world to power their decentralized infrastructure. Holepunch is the platform created by Hypercore, and funded by Tether and Bitfinex, for the creation of non-stable peer-to-peer apps. In fact, it is fully encrypted, and without central servers.

Holepunch was founded to enhance free speech and access to information, and to combat censorship worldwide. It allows users to have complete control over their data and communication channels, which is essential to break free from technological monopolies. 

Keet is just the first in a series of peer-to-peer apps developed through Holepunch. 

Unlike traditional messaging apps that use cloud-based software or external servers that act as intermediaries, Keet users can make calls directly to another user’s device without having to go through any intermediary or third-party service provider. This eliminates the risks of single-point-of-failure, and there is no need to rely on third-party platforms to handle the communication.

Upcoming developments in Hypercore’s new platform

The Holepunch protocol is currently closed source, but will become open source in the fourth quarter of 2022. The platform will not be based on any blockchain, but the integrated API for payments will be based on Lightning Network. It will also support USDT as the default micropayments system for companies wishing to create products on Holepunch.

Holepunch Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Paolo Ardoino said: 

“Web1 was the original form of the internet. It was designed to distribute information and knowledge on a global scale but it didn’t come without issues. Web2 improved upon many of the user experience roadblocks of Web1. Centered around social media, it made content creation, sharing, and consumption seamless but not without one major flaw. Web2 requires users to give up control of their data, which has led to the rise of monopolies and growing privacy concerns. 

That is why Tether and Bitfinex chose to participate in the development of Holepunch and Keet. It believes that freedom of choice, communication and finances are the lifeblood of the future, and anything that will enhance those freedoms is worth amplifying”.

Holepunch CEO Mathias Buus added: 

“Rather than relaying communications through a singular server, the way that most of today’s virtual communications apps do, Holepunch is an open network of computers that can be used by peers to discover each other. Having been heavily involved in the P2P and Node.js ecosystems the last 10 years, I am a big believer in open source and the role that it will play in liberating communication channels for billions of people around the world. 

This technology will enable Keet and the Holepunch platform to become the most unstoppable communication application, and we are thrilled to finally introduce it to the world”.