The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly spreading across a wide range of applications because it is a critical technology for overcoming interoperability and heterogeneity barriers in many applications. IoT is increasingly being deployed in a distributed setting because of the vast number of devices and the physical dispersal of many use cases. Because IoT devices are often resource-restricted, this scattered implementation style exposes devices to unprecedented privacy and security risks. Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), such as blockchain, appear to be a perfect solution to integrate with IoT systems to overcome these challenges thanks to its key pillars: decentralisation, transparency and immutability. The use of blockchain in IoT has been widely examined, and the findings demonstrate how blockchain can be a crucial enabler for IoT. However, blockchain consensus mechanisms are often very energy-intensive, whereas IoT devices are resource-constrained with limited computational power, storage and energy. Therefore, as the literature emphasises, new consensus algorithms could solve most of these issues associated with blockchain technology. Holochain is an emerging DLT that promises to provide blockchain's key benefits and eliminate problems that come with it, such as consensus algorithms and the requirement to maintain a globally synchronised ledger. It has already attained the research community's awareness due to its potential to replace blockchain as a distributed computing solution. This paper compares blockchain and holochain in the context of IoT, considering scalability, availability, security and resource requirements.
Fernando, WPV, Braeken, A & Liyanage, M 2023, Breaking chains, empowering iot: A comparative study of holochain and blockchain. in R Velazquez (ed.), 2023 IEEE Latin-American Conference on Communications (LATINCOM). Latin-American Conference on Communications, IEEE, pp. 1-6, IEEE 2023 LATINCOM, Panama City, Panama, 15/11/23. https://doi.org/10.1109/LATINCOM59467.2023.10361851
Fernando, W. P. V., Braeken, A., & Liyanage, M. (2023). Breaking chains, empowering iot: A comparative study of holochain and blockchain. In R. Velazquez (Ed.), 2023 IEEE Latin-American Conference on Communications (LATINCOM) (pp. 1-6). (Latin-American Conference on Communications). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/LATINCOM59467.2023.10361851
@inproceedings{e1910f236f5e4c589eb420c5c8dd285e,
title = "Breaking chains, empowering iot: A comparative study of holochain and blockchain",
abstract = "The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly spreading across a wide range of applications because it is a critical technology for overcoming interoperability and heterogeneity barriers in many applications. IoT is increasingly being deployed in a distributed setting because of the vast number of devices and the physical dispersal of many use cases. Because IoT devices are often resource-restricted, this scattered implementation style exposes devices to unprecedented privacy and security risks. Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), such as blockchain, appear to be a perfect solution to integrate with IoT systems to overcome these challenges thanks to its key pillars: decentralisation, transparency and immutability. The use of blockchain in IoT has been widely examined, and the findings demonstrate how blockchain can be a crucial enabler for IoT. However, blockchain consensus mechanisms are often very energy-intensive, whereas IoT devices are resource-constrained with limited computational power, storage and energy. Therefore, as the literature emphasises, new consensus algorithms could solve most of these issues associated with blockchain technology. Holochain is an emerging DLT that promises to provide blockchain's key benefits and eliminate problems that come with it, such as consensus algorithms and the requirement to maintain a globally synchronised ledger. It has already attained the research community's awareness due to its potential to replace blockchain as a distributed computing solution. This paper compares blockchain and holochain in the context of IoT, considering scalability, availability, security and resource requirements. ",
author = "Fernando, {Warnakulasuriya Pramitha V} and An Braeken and Madhusanka Liyanage",
note = "Funding Information: can be sacrificed. Holochain is an emerging distributed ledger technology that promises to provide the advantages of blockchain{\textquoteright}s distributed nature while eliminating scalability issues with blockchains. In this paper, we analyzed common blockchain consensus algorithms against holochain. Based on the results, we can conclude that the holochain-based approach has good scalability and uses fewer resources. It is important to note that holochain is still a young technology and has not been well studied in the context of both research and business applications. Although, in theory, it is more promising than blockchain, there is still a lot to learn about it. Over time, through thorough research, holochain{\textquoteright}s weaknesses can be found and strengthened. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work has been partly supported by European Union under CONFIDENTIAL-6G (Grant No: 101096435), and Science Foundation Ireland under CONNECT phase 2 (Grant no. 13/RC/2077 P2) projects. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 IEEE.; IEEE 2023 LATINCOM ; Conference date: 15-11-2023 Through 17-11-2023",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.1109/LATINCOM59467.2023.10361851",
language = "English",
isbn = "9798350326888",
series = "Latin-American Conference on Communications",
publisher = "IEEE",
pages = "1--6",
editor = "Ramiro Velazquez",
booktitle = "2023 IEEE Latin-American Conference on Communications (LATINCOM)",
}