Welcome back guys! Today I’l be doing a review on a token called “High Performance Blockchain” (HPB) review. Many people are referring to this coin as the “EOS of China”, I think in many aspects, this project is even better than EOS, so read on to find out why I say that and if you agree with me.
So what is HPB all about?
Let me read you their official description from the website for those smart enough to understand it and then Il explain it to you in simple English for those who are simple like me.
“HPB (High-Performance Blockchain) is a new kind of block chain hardware and software architecture, which includes a chip acceleration engine and the blockchain platform, aiming to realize the performance extension of distributed applications. Positioned as an easy-to-use high performance blockchain platform, combined with industry depth to meet real business needs. This is done by creating an architecture that builds an application's similar operating system. The software architecture provides account, identity and authorization management, strategy management, database, asynchronous communication, and thousands of CPU and FPGA or cluster program scheduling. By the implementation of a new architecture, the blockchain can support millions of transactions per second, and second level confirmation.”
Alright, now for those of you like me, who are simple minded and didn't quite understand what the above meant, let me give you a simple analogy to understand what HPB is.
Picture this, I have a brand new computer, it’s running really fast initially, but as I install more programs and apps, over time the computer begins to slow down. To try and speed it up, I install specific programs like Tune-up Utilities that help me maximise the performance of my computer. But this too has its limitations, and at some point, I will probably need to upgrade my computer with more RAM or a better graphics card to keep up with times.
Currently blockchain projects are like that laptop, they run really well when there’s little volumes on their platforms initially, but as the volume builds up e.g. on Ethererum/ bitcoin etc.. you start seeing serious performance issues. Software upgrades like Lightning network, Raiden, Plasma etc.. are like Tune-up utilities, they try to maximise the performance of these platforms, but there is still limitations. What HPB is doing that makes it special is that, not only is it offering a software update, it is offering a hardware update. E.g. installing more RAM or a better graphics card for your computer. This hardware upgrade is called “hardware acceleration chip”. The impact is huge.
Imagine, if I have a software that can make my computer run 10x faster, and now I also have a hardware that makes my computer run 10x faster. If I combine the two, the total improved speed is NOT 10+10= 20x faster. It is 10x10= 100x faster. Do you understand why this gives them such and edge now?
One of the major limitations of blockchain being used by major companies is transaction speed. For example, VISA runs at transaction speeds of 25000/ sec. Bitcoin and ether run at 3 and 16 trx/ sec. Newer blockchain platforms run at 1000 trx/sec. As a result, big companies can be attracted to the other advantages of blockchain e.g. being decentralised etc… but they cannot risk using blockchain products simply because of speed issues. In terms of developing technology, there is something known as bottlenecks, where it is hard to surpass that level of technology. Currently for blockchain products, 3000 trx/sec is a major bottleneck that many projects cannot seem to overcome. Meaning majority of blockchain platforms will operate under 3000trx sec.
HPB is boasting that with the combination of software and hardware acceleration that are designed specifically to be compatible with each other, their transaction speeds START at 1milllion trx/ sec. This is not their max, it is their starting speed. For e.g. Neo currently boasts 1000trx/ sec, but claims it can go up to 10,000 trx/secs if needed. Ether is pathetic at the moment, it is 16trx/ sec, boasting it can go up to 30 trx/ sec. Hopefully Raiden, Plasma or Sharding will sort that out soon. But HPB is boasting 1million trx/ sec as start, potentially scaling up to 10 million trx/ sec. If they even accomplish half of what they claim to do, that would be game changing.
The reason people compare HPB with EOS then, is because in the top 100 crypto at the moment, only EOS claims to be able to deliver 1million trx/ sec, at the moment, they are reporting 10k-100k trx speeds. Still impressive and don’t get me wrong. I like EOS, I think it’s a solid project, but I think HPB has is better in the following areas:
HPB is not just software, it is hardware. Future scalability is so much easier for HPB because hardware progress is faster than software progress (think about how often your pc ram or graphics card gets outdated), meaning in future, HPB is likely more scalable that EOS. It’s like EOS will push itself to get to a few million transactions, but HPB will just keep getting faster over time when either its software or hardware has a new version, because progress on either sides adds exponentially on the overall speed. Also having a hardware means that others can't copy you (as they can with software) or compete with you as easily.
HPB is compatible with both Ethereum and Neo’s virtual machine, EOS isn’t. Gamers don’t get too excited, virtual machine is not virtual reality game kinda machine. Virtual machine in blockchain is like “turing complete” in computer language (for those who understand that) or a oversimplified english explanation for simple people like me, think of it like the part of the platform that allows an approximate simulation of the real-world purpose of that smart contract.
If I’ve lost you in this bit, don’t worry, it won’t change your life. But what this all means is that HPB is built to collaborate with Ether and Neo. Which EOS isn’t. In fact, HPB is the first project to be implemented on the NEO virtual machine. So not only is it a serious competitor in the platform arena because of its outstanding speed, it is already a partner for NEO and a serious potential partner for Ether.
- The third area I think HPB is ahead of EOS is the road map. EOS is still in token distribution phase and still in alpha phase. HPB is due to release testnet (so the equivalent of beta phase) this month and its mainnet is due to be released in Q2 (so next 3-4 months). HPB have also aready relaeased a prototype of their hardware acceleration chip, so the results they are boasting about are not theorectically, they are actually very practically achieving it already, so in terms of technology development, it seems to me they are ahead of EOS.
Timing is very important because in blockchain platform business at the moment, it’s all about racing to the finish line. Consider Ether, one of the slowest platforms, but it’s a giant that’s going to be irreplaceable for a long time because it caught such a massive share of the platform market. Similarly, when transaction speeds cross over 25000 trx/sec, it will open up a whole new market with big companies like Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent etc… so first one to claim more of the marketshare with the big companies is likely to be the more successful project in the longer term. HPB understands this and in fact in their white paper, they openly stated that those are the companies they are targeting. They are not targeting small business, they are targeting the big companies with massive volumes that blockchain projects have not been able to touch yet.
So if HPB has these advantages over EOS, why is it HPB has a marketcap of 100million but EOS has a marketcap of 5.8 billion? The answer is hype. EOS just got a lot of hype. That is the truth. It’s a great project with great potential, and that potential has been its selling point uptil now. But Eastern companies work different from Western companies, Eastern companies don’t hype as much initially (tron being the exception hahaha), they tend to develop their product first and promote later. That’s why cases like NEO remained under the radar for so long, but when it took it, it took off fast and hard. I believe HPB will be another such timeline. Finally, HPB’s main marketing guy only came onboard about 6 weeks ago, and there was Chinese New Year break thrown in, so there really hasn’t been much marketing for these guys thrown in. But with testnet and mainnet launch coming up, I’m hoping this will change.
Now there are more technical aspects to this project e.g. it is open source, so anyone can contribute to it with less protocol regulations and the community benefits the most rather than a specific regulator, we can talk about how it’s software uses state channels, so its not building on interactions in the blockchain but outside the blockchain similar to lightning network or Raiden, and also how it’s consensus algorithm will be Delegated Proof of Stake etc.. But I am going to intentionally stop talking about the technical stuff at this point for 2 reasons:
Some aspects of the project e.g. Delegated Proof of Stake, and mining, master nodes etc.. are not actually covered yet. They are only mentioned in the white paper and a more detailed and updated whitepaper is expected to be released by the end of Q1, which is this month. So there isn’t any information on these topics yet.
Also if I was to cover every technical aspect of this project, it would be too long, and I would lose more than half of you in the process. There are other important things I want to highlight to you about HPB, so we are going to move on.
So looking at the people involved in this project,
It’s a great team guys. The founder is Wang Xiao Ming. He's been an early blockchain innovator in China for years and has written three books on blockchain technology and spoken at multiple crypto/blockchain events. He's been connected with NEO since day one. And is a previous employee at Union Pay. The rest of the team has been assembled from Huawei, Intel and other major Chinese companies.
Their advisors include the executive president of UnionPay, a noble prize winning physicist, and the president of the very successful Dongfang Fuhua Fund.
Their investors include NEO, TimeStamp Capital (Major Chinese investment)and Lei Zhen (founder of OKcoin).
Partnerships: This is where all I could find was rumors, not actual details. First partner claimed by their social media is NEO. They certainly are working close to NEO in tech especially in being the first project to be implemented on the virtual machine and NEO is an angel investor, but I haven’t come across a solid article that mentions they are partners. But it certainly isn’t unforeseeable that there will be a partnership there for the above reasons.
The second rumor is Union pay. Now Union pay is China’s biggest financial service operator. To give you an idea of how big they are, they annual transaction volume is larger than Visa and Mastercard’s combined. WTH??? To western world, this is unimaginable, but how big the Chinese economy is, a lot of companies whose names don’t mean anything to a lot of us, actually carry a lot of weight in the world. Now there certainly are links between Union Pay and HPB, the founder of HPB used to work there and one of their advisors is the executive president of Union Pay. But again I have found no article that actually says they are partners. I found one Chinese article that may have said they were in discussion, but nothing about actual partnerships. Again, very possible partnerships in the future, but nothing concrete as yet.
Some rumors even suggested Alibaba, Baidu, And Tencent as partners, these are not partners yet guys, the names are in their whitepaper as partners they are targeting and working towards, but they are not partners yet.
Which is a good thing, because it means we got something to look forward to. If they are already partners with these giants and still having such a low marketcap, then we have nothing to look forward to.
Now the Roadmap
The actual completed product of HPB v2.0, is only expected mid of 2019. So it’s looking like a long Hodl then. But there are things to look out for this year, including mainnet by June and industry implementation solution plan by Dec. We are also hoping for potential big partnerships with companies like Unionpay, and we know discussions have at least already started. Also keep your eye out for heavy marketing, now that their marketing guy has come on board and there is actually stuff to market about e.g. testnet, mainnet soon. We talk about the J-curve and the moment when a token price takes off to the moon. Intuitively you would think this is the moment when they launch their final product next year, but it could happen sooner, because if you look at the current big coins in the top 50, a lot of them, including EOS had their J-curve moment, that 20-50x gains when the market had its altcoin bull run. And that’s how crypto market is driven a lot by at the moment, hype and FOMO. I think that HPB is seriously under the radar now, but all it needs is decent marketing and hype and maybe one major partnership for it to hit the attention of the masses, when that happens, its price will likely rise with the next altcoin bull run, irregardless of whether or not the final product is completed. With its prototype hardware chip and its software mainnet coming out soon, there is a lot of expectation that HPB will deliver what it promises.
Now HPB is currently sitting at $4.72 on coinmarketcap with a marketcap just over a hundred million.
There price has been very stable around the $5 mark for the last 8 weeks, meaning it’s a strong line of resistance. Given the roadmap events coming out soon and general market picking up, there is a chance this might be around the lowest price this token will be. If we compare it to EOS and we believe that as a product, it is comparable to EOS, then if it was to catch up with EOS current marketcap of 5.8 billion, that’s about 58xgains, meaning 5800% gains. If we believe that one day it can catch up to the current Ethereum, that’s over 800x gains, not 800% 80,000% gains. That’s crazy. That’s not unrealistic if you consider that blockchain technology is only in its very early phase, that there is a whole market of big fish that has been reachable uptil this point, HPB is likely to be the first if not at least one of the first into that niche market of big fish partnerships, and they have a technology (making the actual hardware chip) meaning that they can’t be easily copied or replaced. They might not hit that Ether current marketcap by this year or even next year, but I think they have a shot at it in 3-5 years. Even if I had to wait 5 years for my investment to rise 800x, it is totally worth it.
Just to put things in perspective, this time last year, NEO was worth $0.20, it is not $118 (that’s almost 600x growth), so crazy growth does happen in crypto space, we believe it, that’s why we’re investing in crypto now, before the rest of the world. Personally, I’m gonna believe in HPB and invest abit in it.
So that’s my take on HPB, why I believe it’s a hidden gem and a serious competitor to EOS. I hope you found this helpful, if you liked this review, give us an upvote and follow, check out our other coin reviews, and let us know if there’s any other coins or topics you would like us to do a review on. We’ve been getting requests to review your favourite coins, this review was one of them, thank you so much, we love getting those requests, it helps us notice coins we would otherwise miss and it also helps us to share it with the rest of this Cryptolite community so everyone can benefit. We’re building a great community here, thank you for being part of the journey with us.
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