Freenet
Integrated P2P RuntimeGround-up Rust rewrite of a decentralized internet platform, internally known as 'Locutus' (2019–2023) before being rebranded as 'Freenet' in March 2023 when the original Freenet project renamed itself Hyphanet. Designed as a 'decentralized computer' rather than a decentralized data store: a global key-value store where keys are WebAssembly contracts (code + parameters) that define how their own state is validated, merged, and updated. Contracts are analogous to smart contracts; their state propagates peer-to-peer using small-world routing. Real-time subscriptions allow instant notification when contract state changes — enabling chat, social media, and collaborative apps. No built-in anonymity (by design: anonymizing layers can be added). First reference app: River (decentralized group chat), which achieved live multi-machine real-time messaging in December 2025.
Totalmente P2P Comunidade Risco de captura baixo
Links
Detalhes
Licença Apache 2.0 / MIT
Status de Dev Alpha
Proprietário The Freenet Project, Inc. — 501c3 non-profit (USA); President: Ian Clarke (original Freenet architect); Chief Strategy Officer: Steven Starr; core developers: Ignacio Duart, Hector Alberto Santos Rodriguez
País USA
Ano de Início 2019
Stack Rust, WebAssembly, TypeScript / JavaScript, Dioxus
Financiamento Nonprofit
Última Investigação 10 de mar. de 2026
Integrated P2P Runtime Atributos
P2P Architecture Small-world network — peers assigned location 0–1 on join; contracts cached near their location; requests routed greedily toward location closest to contract key
Overlay Network Small-world overlay — self-organizing peer network; UDP hole punching for NAT traversal
Content Addressing Yes — contract key is cryptographic hash of WebAssembly code + parameters; content-addressed at the contract level
Local-First Yes — Freenet node runs locally; no central servers; all data distributed across peers
E2EE No built-in anonymity or E2EE — deliberately omitted from core; anonymizing layers can be added by applications
CRDTs Lib Yes — contract state merging uses user-defined commutative monoids (CRDT-equivalent pattern); contracts define their own merge logic
Byzantine Fault Tolerance No formal BFT — small-world routing provides decentralized resilience; no consensus mechanism
Signature Yes — contract keys are cryptographic hashes; contract state signed by owner key for update authorization
Permissions Contract-based (WebAssembly contract code + parameters = key; state update requires owner signature; invite-tree permissioning demonstrated in River)
Semantic Web Compatability No
Smart Contract Yes — WebAssembly contracts are the network's fundamental unit; equivalent to smart contracts; state validated and merged by contract logic rather than external consensus
Protocol Stack Position Application-layer (built on TCP/IP); Freenet Core runs as a local daemon providing HTTP/WebSocket interface to browsers; small-world DHT routing layer sits above TCP/IP; WebAssembly contracts execute within the Freenet runtime.
Asset / Value Embedding None — Freenet has no native token or economic incentive layer. The project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit funded by donations; node operators participate voluntarily; no tokenomics govern resource contribution.
Development Tools freenet-scaffold crate (project scaffolding CLI for contract/delegate/UI workspace generation); cargo + wasm-pack (Rust-to-WebAssembly compilation); Dioxus (Rust UI framework compiling to WASM, used by River reference app); React/Vue (JavaScript UI frameworks via WebSocket API); freenet-stdlib (Rust contract standard library implementing ContractInterface trait); freenet-core binary (local node/daemon); River (reference chat app demonstrating full contract/delegate/UI pattern).
Deployment Options Self-hosted node (freenet-core system service, installed via quickstart script on Linux/macOS/Windows/Android); browser-based UI access via local HTTP proxy (port configurable); UDP hole punching for NAT traversal (10-20% of users behind symmetric NATs may have connectivity issues); no cloud hosting or centralized server option — fully P2P.
Authentication & Identity Delegate-based cryptographic identity — private keys are held exclusively by Delegate components running inside the Freenet Kernel on the user's device; UIs and contracts never receive raw keys; Delegates sign messages and return only signatures; Ed25519 keys used in reference apps (River wiki); sender attestation allows Delegates to verify which contract a UI was downloaded from; no global identity registry or DID standard mandated at protocol level.
Storage Model Global distributed key-value store — keys are cryptographic hashes of WebAssembly contract code (+ parameters); values are arbitrary contract state (opaque bytes); peers subscribe to contracts and cache state near their small-world routing location; state synchronization via summary/delta exchange (commutative monoid requirement: merge(A,B) = merge(B,A)); Delegates store private data locally on the user's device within the Freenet Kernel; no global replication of all data — only subscribing peers cache a given contract.
Interoperability Open protocol — any language compiling to WebAssembly can implement contracts (Rust best supported; TypeScript, AssemblyScript also viable); UIs are standard web apps (HTML/CSS/JS/WASM) served via local HTTP proxy; WebSocket API for UI↔contract and UI↔delegate communication; no mandatory federation protocol (not ActivityPub); interoperability between Freenet apps is via shared contracts addressable by cryptographic hash; bridge to wider web is a design goal but not yet implemented.
Social Graph No built-in social graph at protocol level — social relationships are implemented per-application via contract state; River (reference chat app) implements room-based social contexts; applications may define arbitrary relationship models via contract logic; no protocol-level identity graph or follow/friend primitive.
Protocol Maturity / Standardization Alpha / Novel Architecture — River milestone achieved December 2025; early user network operational; no external standards body submission; 501c3 non-profit governance