- HotPocket is a blockchain-agnostic dApp engine.
- It converts any number of linux machines into a mini-blockchain.
- It provides maximum flexibility as to scale, language, and functionality.
A funny thing happened on our way to tokenising digital identity: we invented a new smart contract platform.
When we started Lex Automagica, we planned on using the technology of others. Specifically, we wanted to use the XRP Ledger and Codius. We thought this combination of technologies would be cheap, fast, and flexible in just the way we needed to be able to do ambitious things.
The Existing Tech Didn’t Suit
But Codius wasn’t ready. Codius is a docker container with an XRP payment mechanism attached. It has no consensus mechanism, so you cannot run the same App on different nodes. It is a hosting solution, not a smart contract platform.
We Built Something Much More Flexible
And, so HotPocket was conceived.
HotPocket is a UNL (unique node list) consensus engine that converts any number of Linux machines into a mini-blockchain capable of cheaply and speedily running any dApp in any language at almost any scale in concert with almost any blockchain, including the XRP Ledger.
HotPocket dApps don’t run on blockchains, they are blockchains. Each dApp is its own blockchain with its own chain history and dedicated nodes, making them incredibly flexible.
DApps may be public or private. DApps may call external services, read and write data directly to disk and the web, and generally perform any task a regular program can, without centralisation or trusted third parties and without requiring the programmer to implement their own consensus mechanisms.
The Benefits of HotPocket
This flexibility solves many problems that limit mass adoption of dApps including:
- Privacy Compliance: dApps can encrypt data, run only on hosts in a given jurisdiction, or only on hosts that have agreed to meet privacy regulations.
- Scale & Flexibility: dApps can run on as few or as many hosts as the dApp developer desires from a cost and security perspective.
- On-Demand Oracles: HotPocket dApps can elect a sub-set or jury of their own nodes to get data from off-chain, agree on the truth, and report to the rest of the chain as a bespoke, on-demand oracle; and
- Enhanced Security: dApps can detect when a host has become compromised or untrustworthy, shut down that instance of the dApp, and reload it on another, more trusted Node.
HotPocket can be configured to use almost any layer 1 blockchain to coordinate a cluster. Thus HotPocket is a “bolt-on” layer 2 smart contract solution that allows almost any layer 1 blockchain to run any dApp cheaply and speedily in any language at any scale, including the XRP Ledger.
Next Steps
Our next step is to demonstrate HotPocket in action by using a cluster of HotPocket nodes to run iXRPL, our Self-KYC pilot solution.
You can read the HotPocket white paper here and see it in action here.
Want to Be Involved?
We want to solve real problems. If you have a project suggestion, or a problem you think you want solved through blockchain and smart contracts, get in touch.