Dear Hololoot Community,
As we near the close of Q3 and approach some big anniversaries for our business, it’s a good time to look at the state of the project today and look forward to where we’re headed in the coming weeks, months, and years.
When we started Hololoot we couldn’t have predicted that this journey would have taken us to where we are today. We’ve had our highs and our lows, but on the balance of things we’re extremely proud of where we are today. So, I’d like to start this letter by thanking you all for your support so far.
I’d also like to take a moment to look at some internal changes to the Hololoot team. Our COO and project co-founder Maciej Szafarczyk is stepping back from his role but will remain with Hololoot in his capacity as an advisor. I have personally known Maciej for many years, and his contributions to Hololoot have been invaluable. All of us here wish him luck in his future endeavors.
We will also be restructuring our development team to better meet the needs of our project goals.
We will soon announce the new additions to our team on our social channels — we’re eager to introduce the people who have joined our project and are working hard toward our joint success.
With that said, I’d like to look at our plans for the future.
The Hololoot AR app is currently in beta for Android and iOS. In total, more than 1,600 users have downloaded the app — around 850 on iOS and about 750 on Android. We’re particularly pleased with the iOS result as the application isn’t listed on the app store and can only be accessed by a direct application through Apple’s TestFlight.
While downloads are a nice number to look at, the data on how much people use our app gives a much more complete picture. On this front we’re also extremely pleased — most users are opening the app multiple times and keeping it installed, suggesting that they’re finding ongoing value from Hololoot. We’re trying to keep the available content fresh and updated on a regular basis, and this strategy appears to be keeping people engaged.
You can see some screenshots of the app below:
Our team is analyzing feedback on an ongoing basis, and together with reports, statistics, and the opinions we gather from our community, we’re constantly making changes to improve the Hololoot experience.
- The current version of the application, which was built from scratch in the Unity engine, is being rewritten into two separate, native mobile applications for iOS and Android. This will significantly speed up the operation of the entire application and achieve much better visual effects in the UI, and in the future, allow for Apple Pay integration.
- The application will continue to use Unity libraries in the Augmented Reality (AR) services, as we still believe that it is the best AR framework available at the moment.
- In the near future, we plan to:
- Release an INO launchpad (under testing)
- Add even more interactions with 3D models
- Implement a resale function into the marketplace, allowing users to list and sell their assets (development is already completed, awaiting further testing)
- Add the option to bid on NFT auctions
The AR NFT Generator is still in development, so it’s not available just yet. The technological requirements of this app mean that it’ll take longer than other components of our product suite to finish. That being said, development is progressing well. We have a core group of selected partners who have been helping us test and whose help will be invaluable in the development of the Generator over the coming year.
As it stands, Hololoot is retaining control over the collections that are made using the generator. As we don’t have a process to automatically moderate the content that people make, we’re keeping control over the process, for now, to ensure that all assets meet our community standards.
The partnerships we’ve formed are helping us improve our solution in every aspect. Technology, UI/UX, and security are all being strengthened as we work with our partners to produce collections in this early stage of our development. We’re pushing to have the Generator secure enough to make it available for everyone to use — not just our business partners. Once ready, all of you will be able to create your own AR NFT collections to sell on the Hololoot marketplace.
Our CryptoZoo minigame has seen some exciting progress. We understand that as it stands, the CryptoZoo AR NFTs don’t have much utility. This won’t be the case for long, and over the next few months, we’ll be releasing more details on the CryptoZoo game and the utilities of the AR NFTs that support it. Today I’d like to share some high-level info on this project that we think will get our CryptoZoo holders interested in keeping and growing their collections.
To start with, 100% of the $HOL token income from CryptoZoo pet sales will be burned at the end of each month. This will result in a permanent decrease in the total circulating supply of $HOL.
Secondly, our team is already deep into the minigame development. Each day we’re drawing closer to wider testing with users. Our mission for the game is threefold: to demonstrate how much fun you can have with AR, to prove the viability of a P2E game backed by AR NFTs, and to create an early version of the AR metaverse. The final point is significant as we envision CryptoZoo as the first step towards a multiplayer AR experience.
We’ve already released some of the pets, however, if you check out our CryptoZoo blog you’ll notice that we’ve got a lot more on the way. We’ll be releasing these creatures via our INO Launchpad and will require users to burn $PIXEL tokens to join the launchpad lottery.
Each collection will be limited in number, and ticketed users will be able to purchase the assets on a First Come First Served basis.
The INO launchpad will see a re-release of the current collection as well. If you hold a CryptoZoo creature from our first collections, don’t stress — we’ll be giving you a free upgraded AR NFT that unlocks the in-game utility. These distributions will come from the total mint of the new collection; for example, if we release a collection of 100 Etherhinos and 10 wallets hold Etherhinos from the previous collection, those 10 wallets will receive the new AR NFT while 90 assets will be available on the marketplace. This will help maintain the rarity value of the current collections.
$HOL Staking glitches have been resolved and it works without technical objection. It’s important to note that staked tokens were always safe. Staking is available at http://staking.hololoot.io.We’ve worked to ensure that our token and staking arrangements are legally above board. From time to time we complete audits to ensure that we meet all applicable legal and regulatory provisions. These audits are carried out by an independent Swiss law firm and ensure that we can stay ahead of the frequently changing regulations in the crypto world.
Our $HOL token isn’t in the strongest position, and I understand this is frustrating for many investors. The current market downturn has been brutal for most projects in this space and, coupled with relatively high token inflation, we’ve seen the price reduce significantly. Most of the activities described in this letter are in service of turning this around, and we hope to see significant improvements over the next year.
To begin with, tokens will start being burned from the marketplace. While we’re still distributing tokens, for now, this will lessen token inflation.
We’ll also be expanding on the token utility on the INO Launchpad. Users can purchase assets using $HOL, helping drive demand for our token. Our team is always working on securing great partnerships, and with amazing artists, games, and brands looking to get into AR and NFTs, we’re excited to see some awesome new assets listed in our marketplace.
Token issuance will also begin slowing down over the next three quarters. At the time of writing, around 27 million $HOL is in circulation. On September 13, 100% of the public allocation was unlocked. Looking forward, Private will be fully distributed on December 13, and Seed will reach 100% distribution in June 2023. While there will of course be some selling around these dates, we anticipate that lower inflation combined with token burns and increased token utility will see a reversal in price trends. Favorable market conditions will of course aid us on this front and help attract new users to our platform, token, and marketplace.
$PIXEL, our internal token, is still an important part of our ecosystem. We’ve been pleased with the amount of $HOL locked up in $PIXEL farms — these are tokens out of circulation that are earning their holders rewards. $PIXEL will play an important role in the INO Launchpad and will also have utility inside the CryptoZoo game. In the future, we’ll look at new ways to expand the token utility that maintains the token’s health.
Despite some challenges and difficulties, all of us at Hololoot are still passionate about what we’re building. Launching an innovative product on the blockchain was never going to be easy — we’re treading in unexplored waters and learning a lot along the way. Our vision has always been ambitious, spanning many years into the future, and with so many exciting developments in both AR and NFTs, we’re incredibly excited for what the future may hold.
Thank you for coming on this journey with us, and for all your support so far. I’m confident that together we can create something that stands the test of time and brings AR and NFTs to a wider audience than ever before.
Adam Bialon
Founder & CEO
