What is Helium

Helium is a decentralised wireless network that allows low power smart devices (miners) to send and receive data to the internet. The miners earn HNT for providing network coverage and relaying data to the internet using hardware called a Hotspot.

A brief History of Helium

Shawn Fanning, Amir Haleem, and Sean Carey founded Helium in 2013 to make it easier to build connected devices. Helium thinks that today's wireless communication possibilities will be entirely insufficient for the future generation of machines. To address this issue, they created the Helium Hotspot, a hybrid of a physical blockchain node and a wireless gateway that network participants may use to earn HNT, the native token.

Hotspots must submit proof of wireless coverage in a cryptographically verified location and time to receive rewards. Once the network is up, any sensor that supports the Helium LongFi wireless protocol may join the network, designed for battery-powered devices that deliver modest quantities of data over long distances.

In HNT, hotspots are rewarded depending on the quality of their coverage and the quantity of LongFi sensor data they convey for network devices. The network burns HNT to create Data Credits, a non-fungible token utilised for all network transaction fees. By sending sensor data and claiming Hotspot locations, these two tasks demand Data Credits. Any LongFi-enabled IoT device can send data to any Helium Hotspot with coverage.

Helium has received equity financing from some of the world's most prestigious venture capital (VC) companies, including Khosla Ventures, FirstMark Capital, GV (previously Google Ventures), HSB/MunichRe Ventures, and others. Invoxia, a firm that provides GPS trackers for individuals and businesses, is the latest company to join the Helium network for its data management requirements.

HNT is obtained by mining using a suitable Hotspot, which mines HNT and provides network coverage for IoT devices. At the start, all HNT is mined at 5M HNT/month, which is then halved every two years after that. On August 1st, 2021, the monthly net HNT issuance will be decreased to 2.5M HNT. In the same month, HNT price hit a 3-month high after the network's active nodes surpassed 100,000, and the project raised USD 111 million through a token sale.

How Helium Works

Helium employs a unique work technique called proof of coverage (PoC), which rewards miners in HNT — Helium's coin, similar to how ETH is to Ethereum — for utilising radio waves to validate that hotspots are delivering wireless coverage to devices.

Similar to how Ethereum utilises graphics cards to crunch cryptographic hash codes that give the proof of work required to validate transactions, Helium miners ensure that wireless hotspots aren't lying about their service by ‘interrogating’ hotspots about the activity using radio waves.

Helium is a blockchain-based network for IoT devices that employs nodes as Hotspots to connect wireless devices to the network. The native token HNT powers the network and serves as a payout whenever Hotspots transfer connection data across the network.

What is Helium Used for

Helium has two primary uses. The first is to reward Helium Hotspot operators for contributing to the network's expansion and security. The second is to act as the basis for data credits (DCs) generated by the burning of Helium tokens.

Helium can effortlessly connect devices on the Internet of things by employing low power efficiency and effectiveness. Helium also supports HNT staking, allowing users to benefit from their network involvement.

To begin utilising Helium as a Hotspot node provider, users purchase special mining devices and earn rewards based on their involvement. The rewards are in HNT. Helium builds a one-of-a-kind infrastructure for a completely new wireless economy driven by decentralisation, thus the moniker 'The People's Network’.