diff --git a/backend/src/federation/index.ts b/backend/src/federation/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cd9747732
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/federation/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import DHT from '@hyperswarm/dht'
+import { Connection } from '@dbTools/typeorm'
+
+const POLLTIME = 20000
+const SUCCESSTIME = 120000
+const ERRORTIME = 240000
+const ANNOUNCETIME = 30000
+
+export const startDHT = async (connection: Connection, topic: string): Promise<void> => {
+  console.log('topic', topic, typeof topic)
+  // const TOPIC = DHT.hash(Buffer.from(topic))
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/server/createServer.ts b/backend/src/server/createServer.ts
index 8315fda58..e2ea8ea08 100644
--- a/backend/src/server/createServer.ts
+++ b/backend/src/server/createServer.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ import schema from '@/graphql/schema'
 import { elopageWebhook } from '@/webhook/elopage'
 import { Connection } from '@dbTools/typeorm'
 
+// DHT
+import { startDHT } from '@/federation/index'
+
 // TODO implement
 // import queryComplexity, { simpleEstimator, fieldConfigEstimator } from "graphql-query-complexity";
 
@@ -41,6 +44,12 @@ const createServer = async (context: any = serverContext): Promise<ServerDef> =>
     throw new Error('Fatal: Database Version incorrect')
   }
 
+  // start DHT hyperswarm when DHT_TOPIC is set in .env
+  if (CONFIG.DHT_TOPIC) {
+    console.log('Starting hyperswarm DHT')
+    await startDHT(con, CONFIG.DHT_TOPIC)
+  }
+
   // Express Server
   const app = express()