Halo Platform announces move to Ethereum

Halo Platform announced a community proposal to move from the native Halo chain to become a member of the Ethereum community as an ERC token project.  The announcement (see below) cited the impending move by Ethereum to ETH 2.0 and it's scaling solutions which Halo was initially trying to address with their chain.  Being that Halo is a second degree fork of ETH (by way of Quorum) the migration will not require extensive work.  All addresses and private keys will be able to migrate as all Halo addresses have a mirror address on ETH.  

 

Halo Update Time!

I've written and rewritten this one multiple times as it's a little different then our normal updates. Instead of talking about development progress and other items, I want to open up a discussion with you, the Halo Community, about the path forward for Halo. Which makes it more difficult to write up.

We have done some awesome things with Halo. The products we've created are outstanding and will continue to improve. Looking to the future I feel there will be a few holding us back from gaining more market share and users.

Instead of a long run down of our products and highlights lets just cut into how I see Halo moving forward, and open the discussion up.

We've always had a barrier to use in the fact that we are our own blockchain and even though we are a fork of Quorum which is a fork of Ethereum, we are not 100% compatible with Ethereum products, there are just a few minor changes needed. So users cannot use Metamask to interface with Halo products and we cannot gain access to Ethereums' community or community products.

We made the choice for our own blockchain to solve some of Ethereums shortcomings. Network speed, gas costs, and gas limits. But with the Ethereum 2.0 release being scheduled to release, I find that we may have a unique opportunity to recast Halo's image into a support role for the Ethereum Community and blockchain and that Ethereum is solving a major part of their issues with this update.

Our products can be relaunched with minor modifications to work on Eth. HaloDex would become an Eth Native Dex, but still have the full Wrapper system behind it for cross chain tokenization. We have been working on splitting up parts of the Dex to reduce chain interaction while maintaining decentralization and giving it the technical necessities for API based trading already.

Halo itself would become an ERC-20 token. We would do a seamless token launch. Your balance on Halo today would be your balance on token launch. Including masternode balances and dex balances. Your current private keys and addresses will be used on the Ethereum chain for the token balances. The thought of undoing the 800:1 split could be considered at this time also since the primary reason it was done would be no longer valid by moving to the Eth chain. It would require minimal effort during this process.

Our Masternode system, would be converted into two different products. First, the four tiers of nodes now would become a staking system (look and feel exactly the same as now) to distribute anything generated from the systems (like how it is now). With added support for all of the erc-20 tokens to be able to be distributed.

The second piece of the MN system would be made to be a Staking pool solely for Eth. Using our share system users will be able to stake directly in ETH and get paid out a portion of the earnings based on their stakes. All held securely by the smart contract.

The Chrome Extension and Wallet Dapp would still be developed along its current path, moving into a multi chain wallet, with Metamask like capabilities for each supported chain.

This also allows us to free up valuable resources currently being expended maintaining the Halo blockchain. It is a considerable monthly cost to run all the servers, load balancers, etc. Not only in money costs, but also the hours a day/week it takes to service them all and troubleshoot any issues. These resources can be allocated to actual development of the new core products, Dex, Extension/Wallet and Masternode/Staking systems. 

I do not really pitch this idea lightly. I am proud of what we've built. But I recognize that stand alone blockchains will always have a harder time competitively. It is difficult to maintain parity in security, features, and exposure. Over time it is my firm belief we will see less individual chains, and more second layer, or side chains that tie into the few major primary chains.

There is a lot more to this discussion to be had. A lot more in the details of each product, each consideration to be made. But this is one that I firmly believe will give Halo the best chance to succeed and survive in the industry.

 

The community has responded very favorably to the proposal and this week the Halo team answered that the move is now definitively going to happen and they are going to start preparing a timeline and begin to address the mechanics of the move.  The price of Halo has also responded very favorably to the announcement as well.  The price had been languishing as low as 19-20 gwei for a period of time and since the announcement the price has gone 3x up to a price of 60 gwei on HaloDEX at the time of this writing.  The volume is not very significant for this very low market cap alt coin but the room to grow is enormous.  Buy side support has also been following the move up, though there is a large spread currently, so we will have to see if that gap closes down as the positive trading sentiment continues to grow.  Halo also trades with an ETH pairing on STEX as well as BTC, ETH and USDT pairs on LATOKEN.

 

 

The positive sentiment is in part because after the move HaloDEX will be adjusting it's model to become a high liquidity non-custodial DEX/CEX hybrid.  The updated exchange will have all the necessary tool for market making, bot trading, and liquidity network integrations.  All of this will happen with the security of a non-custodial wallet, so the user keeps control of their coins.  HaloDEX had worked with a market maker at the end of last year to determine the needs of the DEX for automated trading.  There was a large price action move at that time up to a high of 440 gwei based on the positive sentiment and liquidity. It was determined that some work was needed to fully automate liquidity and the price retracted significantly.

The roadmap for the exchange also includes a plan for leveraged trading and loaning of crypto to enable that trading.  This will allow the exchange to slot directly into the lucrative DeFi ecosystem that is rapidly developing on the Ethereum network.  Excitement for the integration into the DeFi world and becoming part of the larger Ethereum ecosystem has also fueled positive sentiment.  The issues of being a standalone chain and needing to build and maintain your own explorers, wallets, and other tools go away and you can immediately have access to all the tools available to ETH users.  It also allows easy listing on exchanges, a problem that has been difficult for Halo in the past as exchanges charge exorbitant fees to onboard a new chain.  However being an ERC will allow easy and cheap listing accross many ETH exchanges and dexes.  

Excitement over the plan to become a pooled staking solution for ETH was also very obvious in community discussions.  This would allow a trustless pooling of ETH to become a staker and recieve ETH 2.0 rewards without needing to maintain a 32 ETH balance.  This was considered to have a broad audience of potential users.

Finally the move allows all the resources currently being put into maintaining and running the chain to go directly to development of the Halo products.  The team has stated that the intention is to return back to the initial vision of halo as a trading and digital financial platform.  There is already provisions in place for Fiat integrations and in the future a roadmap goal for a debit card.  These integrations would even more firmly place Halo Platform into the realm of the Ethereum DeFi world.

I have included the current FAQs that have been answered on the Halo Official Discord. The FAQs are a live document and have been getting team updates throughout the question and answer period.  As the migration details get fleshed out I expect these to continue to grow and more clarity to come to the migration.

 

What would be the timing of the migration and would we wait for ETH 2.0?

We would start work on it as quickly as possible and get established in the ETH ecosystem before the ETH 2.0 roll out.  We will not wait for ETH 2.0.

 

Would the re-launch include a rebranding?

That is still to be determined.  We are researching what it would take and if that would be the best use of resources and if it would delay the roll out.

Would the 800:1 split be undone?

Yes, this is definitely something we can consider and it’s the likely scenario.

 

Can the coin reduction be something other than 800:1, possibly 1000:1?

We would prefer to just undo the initial split to go back to original vision.  Anything else would take more consideration more planning and more adjustments.

How will this impact the tokens utility?

The utility would be the same as it bears now.  Holding Halo gives you discounts on product fees and you would be paid a portion of product fees that are generated.

Would rewards be Halo or ETH for staking?

Staking Halo in the Halo Staking Nodes (current Masternodes) would earn you rewards based on the current MN system.  In addition to Halo we would be adding in support for reward payment in other tokens/ethereum also as that was already a planned upgrade.    If you were staking in the ETH Staking Nodes would earn ETH.

Once you move to ETH will Halo be able to be mined?

We would be an ERC-20 token which are not mineable.  We can still generate more Halo to distribute through staking, but not earn-able with CPU, GPU, ASIC, etc mining equipment.

Would the focus on games and casino continue?

In the short term no.  This will be a chance to re-focus on the original Halo goals of a set of financial tools for use in the crypto environment.  Games will be reconsidered at a later date.

What happens to blockfight?

Blockfight would be migrated eventually. Dex, wallet and masternodes however will be the focus up front.  Blockfight will be moved when the time is right, but we have no plans to sunset blockfight.

What is happening with Pinnacle and is there a timeframe for release?

Pinnacle will be the next evolution of HaloDEX.  We will migrate the dex first and the work on the upgrades for liquidity and trading adjustments needed for the ethereum network.  Additional upgrades will come with time.  We don’t have a definitive timeframe for a Pinnacle launch.

Will HaloDEX and eventually Pinnacle remain non-custodial?

Yes, the plan to be a non-custodial high liquidity exchange is still our target goal.

Will there be a fiat gateway in the future.

Yes, this is being worked on currently.  We are working through the legal items now.

How will the move to ethereum help Halo?

First it will free up resources spent on keeping the chain running currently.  Those resources, both time and financial, can go into development and new team members..  Additionally it will make it easier to work with ethereum developers without them learning the intricacies of the Halo chain.  Lastly it will allow us easier access to the well developed ecosystem as well as easier and much cheaper listings on exchanges and access to liquidity.

Would free transactions still be possible as a side chain?

The plan is to launch halo as a token on the ethereum network.  We still have to determine if the products will run on a public or private sidechain or can be done without a side chain. As ETH 2.0 rolls out over the next couple of years the sharding plan will address most of the scaling issues initially seen with ethereum's network.  It will also render some of the current second layer solutions unnecessary.  Launching as a second layer on ethereum may not be the best use of resources.

What about the increasing gas fees on ethereum?

Some things that are done on halo chain now don’t necessarily need to be done on the ethereum chain.  We will implement solutions to manage gas fees as best we can in the short term.  Once the ETH 2.0 migration is complete the ethereum network scaling should resolve the ethereum networks gas fee issues.

What token type will you be on ethereum, ERC-20 or something newer?

We will use ERC-20 in all conversations for ease of communication, but final technology inside our contract will definitely not be just a plain ERC-20.  We will have backwards compatibility with ERC-20 so as to adhere to base requirements for that standard.  ERC-20 base compliance means we have a basic 6 functions.

With the migration of masternodes to a staking platform, what will that look like?

It will still look the same as what you see now in our masternode system.  The option for self hosting will be removed.  But you will still be able to hold it publicly or privately.

How quickly can staking for ETH be implemented?

The goal would be to have ample time to test it on Rinkby before actual staking happens on Eth main chain.  Most of the system is already built or is convertible.

How do you plan to manage the Ethereum shared staking?

Not exactly sure on this question, Everything would be managed from a smart contract stand point, just as our masternode system is now.  Any actual node requirements would be ran as a service with guaranteed uptime and with costs passed through to the staking contract.

Will you be looking to list on more exchanges after the migration?

Yes.  Being an ERC token opens up a lot of possibilities for listing.

How will the chain migration work for masternodes.  Will nodes be shut down and halo returned to wallets?  Will people need to restake after the migration into the updated staking dapp?

Yes nodes will be shut down.  Yes halo will return to your wallet.  Yes people will need to restake after the migration.  We will provide a lot of notice before this happens, when it happens, and when you can start re-staking.  We will also give a leadway before any payouts happen so as to let people settle into their staking positions.

Can you confirm if this is a proposal up for a community vote or is this definite and just a matter of timeline?

This is more of a definite, and establishing a timeline.  The quorum is open though for discussions, it is just not feasible financially to maintain the chain and services for a long period of time.

 

 

As a matter of disclosure I have been a long time Halo holder and community member.  I am not an official member of the team in any capacity, but do contribute to the discord and am helping to curate the FAQs with team member input.

I hope you find my posts informative, helpful, or amusing.  Whatever the case thanks for your time.

Please comment with your thoughts.

 

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