HALO Network Review

Adaora Anders
HALO Network
Published in
5 min readOct 5, 2021

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Is HALO Network yet another acclaimed Ethereum killer? Certainly not. So why should you bother? We will get into these and many more in this HALO Network Review.

HALO Network At First Glance

My first stop when assessing HALO Network is the website. As always, a website will tell you a lot about a project. It’s through Halo.land that you get a feel of the blockchain’s capacity. Interestingly, Halo.land provides a lot of information regarding the project.

On the website, using the menu option reveals several HALO Network products. With products like HOSWAP, HALO Oracle, HALO Loans, etc. It is crystal clear that this blockchain is not following in the footsteps of others by leaving DeFi services to just anybody.

HALO Network Products

HALO Network stands out amid blockchains. Thanks to its product range. This is one blockchain that is intentional about its support for a robust DeFi ecosystem, and you can see that in the sort of products HALO Network provides.

Here’s our in-depth assessment of the various products that make up HALO Network:

HALO Bridge

At the top of the pile is HALO Bridge. The bridge is suitable for cross-chain asset conversions; whether it delivers on speed and efficiency is up for debate.

While you might be raring to give it a go, there are only a handful of assets supported currently. USDT, USDC, BNB, and a few others are some of the assets that can be bridged on HALO Bridge at the moment. Also, cross-chain conversions are limited to BSC and HALO Network, but that will change in the future. With the state of the BSC bridge, there will be a huge market for HALO Bridge.

Using the bridge requires you to be cautious about the address submitted. It’s always a good idea to try for a small amount before making a bulk conversion.

HALO Community

Every blockchain stands on a tripod of decentralization, scalability, and security. HALO Community is this blockchain’s attempt at being truly decentralized. By getting users to send their Community private key, a relationship network blossoms among real users. This certainly buds well for the decentralization of this digital ledger.

POS Node

Another product that explains the capabilities of HALO Network is the POS Node. Unsurprisingly, HALO Network settled for the more environmentally friendly POS consensus. Yet, the POS node is more than that. Users get to vote on supernodes and proposals regarding the future of the blockchain through the POS node.

As always, you have to stake some HO, HALO Network’s native token if you intend to participate in voting. Where the blockchain differs from other PoS chains is the absence of a lockup period. This should attract more users to take part in governance voting, deepening the decentralization of the blockchain.

To take part in the voting, you pledge your HO tokens. You can easily see your reward for participation in the POS Node voting. Your community power also plays a role in rewards accrued. HALO Network ensures holding HO tokens in the PoS node is rewarded. Of course, user activity plays a role in the incentivizing process.

HOSWAP

HALO Network meets some of its DeFi’s objectives through its decentralized exchange, HOSWAP. Currently, you can only trade a few assets on the DEX, but that will change as the blockchain gains significant traction.

One thing about HOSWAP is how easily you can set a gas fee preference. Depending on the urgency of the transaction, you can choose between standard, fast and instant transaction speed. This reduces the likelihood of failed transactions and humongous gas fees. Nevertheless, you should be cautious about using standard to reduce the occurrence of failed transactions.

Another attribute of HOSWAP that will appeal to the crypto community is the Expert mode. Sometimes, you have to adjust slippage for trading certain assets; Expert mode lets you tinker with the DEX settings as you deem fit. There’s also the opportunity to meddle in the deadline for transactions. You don’t have to wait till eternity before your transaction is complete.

You can also add liquidity for yield farms using HOSWAP. It is not so different from what is obtainable in existing DEXs, so you shouldn’t have any problems navigating it. Currently, only two liquidity pools are available on HOSWAP — HO/USDT and HO/HOS.

HORC-20 Token Issuance

Just like you have ERC-20 issued tokens compatible with the Ethereum chain, HORC-20 tokens are available. Projects can build on HALO Network, creating HORC-20 tokens for their ecosystem.

To create a HORC-20 token, you have to use the HORC-20 token issuance page. You have to submit the token name, symbol, decimal, and total supply.

Certain rules guide the creation of the HORC-20 token, but these are relatively straightforward. For instance, total supply is capped, so if you intend to create a token with an unlimited supply, then the HORC-20 token issuance isn’t for your project.

Submitting the details for token issuance is just one step; the smart contract is vital as well. On clicking the issue tab, the smart contract management access for the HORC-20 token will be made available to the specific wallet.

Requesting the issuance of a HORC-20 token is relatively affordable — a handling fee of 20 HO is all you need.

HALO Explorer

Like a typical blockchain, HALO Network has its explorer. It is through HALO explorer that you can keep track of your transactions done on the blockchain. If a particular transaction is stalling, the explorer reveals the status of the transaction. You can use the search bar to locate your transaction quickly.

HALO explorer relies on three distinct APIs — GraphQL, RPC, and ETH RPC.

HALO Network’s Plethora of Tokens

HALO Network has three distinct tokens, which is quite unusual for a blockchain. Yet, these tokens function uniquely. Below are the three cryptocurrencies and their functions:

HO — this is the native token of HALO Network. If you’re interested in staking on the POS chain at an APY of 120%, HO is the token you need. Also, you pay gas fees in HO, so it’s certainly crucial you have some HO.

HOS — This is the governance token of HOSWAP. Anyone interested in the decision-making process of HALO Network’s first DEX will need some HOS to get involved.

HOR — It’s the reward token of HALO Network. All activities that require incentivizing users, such as airdrops and reward programs are done using HOR.

Conclusion

On dissecting HALO Network, the blockchain did throw up a few surprises; HALO Community is one of such. It is a novel approach towards enabling a truly decentralized blockchain. Besides HALO Community, there are other HALO Network products that are capable of making the digital ledger even more appealing to DeFi projects.

However, most of the blockchain’s DeFi products — HALO Loans, stable coins, etc — are unavailable. It will be interesting to see how those products work, especially when compared with existing DeFi protocols.

Follow HALO Network and stay up-to-date:

🔘 Official Website: https://halo.land

🔘 Telegram Group: https://t.me/HALONetwork

🔘 Telegram Channel: https://t.me/HALONetwork_news

🔘 Twitter: https://twitter.com/network_halo

🔘 Medium: https://halonetwork.medium.com

🔘 Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/halonetwork

🔘 Discord: https://discord.gg/7rMEbWzacd

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