As the digital realm becomes more interconnected, concerns about data surveillance and breaches are growing. In response, HOPR employs cutting-edge technology to offer users a robust shield against prying eyes, fostering a safer and more private online experience. This article will unravel the intricate world of HOPR, exploring its innovative solutions, potential use cases, and its role in redefining the boundaries of privacy in the digital age.

What is the HOPR Protocol?

HOPR (pronounced hopper) is a privacy-preserving messaging protocol and decentralized network with economic incentives. It has emerged as a way for individuals and companies to exchange information online with complete privacy. People communicating and transacting with HOPR, or apps and services running on the HOPR platform, can be confident that no third party can find out what data is being shared, how much data is being sent, or who is sending or receiving such data.

With HOPR being fully decentralized, users never have to worry about giving up control of their data, ensuring that all their transactions are fully transparent and trustless. Decentralisation also ensures that the network remains independent and no one gets into a position to inappropriately influence the network’s development or manipulate outcomes to their advantage. This makes the network resilient and able to keep running, even if most nodes are compromised or damaged, making it difficult to shut down. Even key HOPR team members tasked with maintaining the network cannot control, censor, or intercept its traffic.

HOPR is an incentivized peer-to-peer network open to anyone who wants to join and run a node.

There are no master nodes or servers to control traffic or access. As such, all the nodes are peers and, through the benefit of running the HOPR protocol, work together to run the network communally.

Anyone can help maintain the HOPR network as well, and they do so by relaying data via a HOPR node either on their computer or a separate device connected to their router. Since HOPR is also fully incentivized, everyone who runs a node and stakes tokens will earn HOPR tokens in exchange for their work.

History of HOPR

HOPR was created by co-founders Rik Kreiger, an entrepreneur and expert in commercial strategies, and Dr Sebastian Burgel, a tech entrepreneur affiliated with the blockchain industry in Switzerland. The founding team launched an incentivized mixnet infrastructure in 2018, and in early 2019, the first public demo of the network layer was presented at EthCC. The demo network layer garnered the industry’s attention and secured the project’s space in the Binance Fellowship program. In addition to funding, the success of the demo network layer attracted grants from the Gitcoins second CLR round and up to $1 million in funding from Binance Labs.

How Does HOPR Work?

HOPR provides privacy by relaying messages through several “hops” via unique relay nodes connected to the network. These messages utilize what is known as the Sphinx packet, a technology that ensures every data packet on the blockchain appears to have the same number of bytes. Using this Sphinx format ensures that messages look the same, making it harder for data on the sender, recipient, or the message’s content to be leaked.

HOPR also features a proof-of-relay mechanism, where each node runner is incentivized to relay data correctly and rewarded with HOPR tokens. Thus, each time a message hops through a unique node, its maintainer will be rewarded in the blockchain’s native digital currency.

The HOPR network is designed to be highly scalable, and as such, it can handle a large volume of transactions without any need for expensive hardware or software upgrades. This feature makes the protocol energy efficient, eliminating concerns about any adverse effects on the environment caused by the protocol’s operations.

Main Features of HOPR

HOPR uses different technologies to ensure a decentralized privacy network. Some of these features include:

Mixnet

The word “mixnet” was coined from two words; “mix” and “network.” It is a group of routing protocols that make it difficult to track data exchanged on the internet. This structure uses proxy servers to mix up messages and data from varying sources and scatter them together. The shuffled data are then individually delivered to their destination. This process breaks the direct link between the sender and receiver, making tracking data and messages difficult.

Cover Traffic

Cover traffic is the random data sent throughout the mixnet. This data has no intrinsic value but adds more traffic within the mixnet, making it even harder to track individual data packets. If the traffic gets low within the mixnet, other users will be incentivized by more HOPR tokens to send arbitrary data packets into the mixnet.

Incentives

Encryption, mixing, and relaying are quite tasking computational tasks, especially compared to sending data directly and openly. Nodes must be paid for transmitting private messages across the network, which helps build a scalable privacy network covering the entire internet. The HOPR network then manages these payments by including them in the transaction fees and adding them to the data packets.

What is the HOPR Token?

The HOPR token is the native cryptocurrency of the platform, and it ties all the aspects of the HOPR protocol together. It is used as the chief currency and incentivizes users to perform activities on the node. The HOPR token serves three primary functions, which include:

Payment

This is the primary function of the token, as it is used to reward node operators for their role in forwarding metadata privately. Token holders who wish to relay secure and private data through the network need to open a node, and their node will pay the network in HOPR tokens for each data packet they send. Nodes can run on your device or a virtual private server. Conversely, each relayer in the node would then be entitled to a share of the payment.

Staking

Users can lock their tokens in their nodes, which serves as their stake. Thus, the more data they relay through their nodes, the more tokens they earn. These earnings come from both the pay feature and also through providing cover traffic.

Vote

In pursuit of decentralization, HOPR aims to put the control and management of the platform’s infrastructure in the users’ hands. To this end, anyone holding a HOPR token can vote on matters affecting the protocol, including the definition of parameters and other proposals.

Token holders can also apply for membership in the HOPR association DAO. This association is a Swiss non-profit legal entity that provides legal cover for HOPR whenever it interacts with the real world to protect the identity of its holders.

HOPR Tokenomics

HOPR has a total supply of 1 billion tokens, with a current circulating supply of 130 million tokens. It’s current market cap is $85 million. The token was distributed as follows:

• 25.5% was allocated to the Treasury
• 25% was allotted to cover traffic
• The HOPR team and advisors
• 16.5% went to the early token buyers
• 14.5% went to other uses.

News on HOPR

On August 3, 2023, Hopr announced that it had been granted US Patent 11,716,312, “Platform for Optimizing Secure Communications” by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This patent extends Hopr’s initial “Password Hopping System” technology to cloud machines with a new feature that addresses the increased risk of legacy transport security by catering to the speed and scale of cloud operations.

Is HOPR a Good Investment?

HOPR promises complete privacy for your data and messages. Its pioneering features, from the privacy-centric mixnet to decentralized governance and data protection incentives, highlight its commitment to redefining online privacy. However, it must be noted that the cryptocurrency market is quite volatile, so every investor is advised to do extensive research and consult qualified financial professionals before investing in HOPR.

Take Action on HOPR

HOPR is available for purchase from centralized and decentralized exchanges including gate.io. Check the HOPR price here and begin trading your favorite pairs.

• HOPR/USDT
• HOPR/ETH