This video is the full hour-long class, edited to 40 minutes. In it, the instructor Burak Sezen covers the company history, how HNT’s are minted and distributed, proof of coverage (POC), the concepts of Hexagons and Transmit scale, improving earnings through placement, height and antennas, software tools, and sources of information. The below text covers just the overview section.
About Helium
Helium is a private company founded in 2012 with $53 million in capitalization. Its mission is to create a decentralized network of wifi hotspots designed to transfer data for IOT, Internet of Things, devices. The ultimate customers are the IOT companies, which use the Helium network as a LoraWann network to transfer data from devices for pet trackers, delivery trucks, agriculture, smart cities, and home security. There are about 50 IoT customers in 2021, a number that may grow by 100 to 200 over the next year or so.
Instead of buying data transfer from a corporation like Verizon supplies a central network, Helium’s network is composed of individuals who simply tap into their own Wifi service to power devices, called Hotspots, which combine to create a network that sends the data.
The hotspot itself is essentially a small (6×6″) computer pre-configured to perform functions designed by Helium. Most cost $350 to $450, with an antenna placed into the window and plugs into the power outlet of the miner’s home, business, or partner. For the first installation, the minder just then downloads the Helium app to their phone, which finds the device, and accesses the wifi in that location. They log-in to the Dapp with the local password and can identify and manage multiple hotspots from the same Dap on their cell phone. The app also services as a wallet.
History
Helium sold its first Hotspot in 2019, and by September 15, 2021, there were 177,000 total hotspots sold and operating, a number growing by about 2,000 a day.
As the Hotspots communicate with other nearby Hotspots, their owners are awarded with HNT’s, Helium’s cryptocurrency, according to an algorithm. The HNT’s sent to the owner’s Helium app/wallet accumulate until they are withdrawn.
In 2021 most HNT’s are awarded for providing network coverage, but they can also be earned by transferring customer data. Some owners use Helium-powered IoT’s in their own home devices, but typically the cost versus HNT’s earned is largely a wash.
Helium’s protocols call for it to mint and transfer 2.5 million HNT’s a month. This amount will be reduced by 50% in 2025, in an event called a “having” and subsequently every four years to limit supply. The first halving occurred in August 2021 and resulted in the price of HNT increasing by about 70%.
PoC – Proof of Coverage
Essentially, Helium’s algorithms gamify the placement of hotspots so that their owners are incentives to put them in optimal locations, near another hotspot, but not too close. It divides the earth into hexagons that form a map over the surface.
The “Proof of coverage” algorithm invented by Helium authenticates hotspots, ensures they are active and rewards them for optimized coverage.
POC is actually generated when an antenna from a hotspot sends or receives a signal between other hotspots in the area. The cluster of hotspots communicating shares the tokens: The challenger, or transmitter, issuing the signal containing a math problem to solve, gets .8% of tokens; the receiver or “witness” which solves the problem and sends the answer to the blockchain, receives 20.08%. The more witnesses reached by the antenna also increase earnings. However, earnings are split by hotspots within a Hexagon, incentivizing savvy Hotspot owners to “spread out” into adjacent Hexagons, where they will earn more. A Hotspot closer than 300 yards is especially penalized.
To cash out, HNT’s need to be transferred to a compatible wallet, such as Binance.US, sold and transferred into a bank. To transfer HNT’s to Binance.us owner simply puts the Binance.us HNT address into the app and clicks on send.
Over the summer of 2021, Helium opened up Validators, cloud-based computers charged with validating transactions for the Blockchain. Owners who stake 10k HNT can become validators and earn collectively 6% of the 2.5 million HNT’s minted.
However, the coins staked in validators have to remain there for a predetermined amount of time. New companies have sprung up to allow smaller investors to stake smaller amounts. These companies, which include Helium Rising, Stake My HNT, and Argon: Helium Validates, take smaller amounts of HNT’s pool them, and put them into a validator, issuing returns to investors, plus the original investment back depending on the protocol.
Helium’s latest initiative is to partner with FreedomFi to build a more powerful 5g network capable of transmitting much larger data sources, such as video streaming. A 5G hotspot will replace the original one since it can transmit both low and high levels of data. Scheduled to launch 2022, the wait list for hotspots is already sold out.
An ecosystem of software tools like Hotspotty and HotspotRF has sprung up in order to help Hotspot owners optimize placements and earn more (see earning more from Helium, Module 2).
You can find a list of places to buy Helium hotspots on their website. A major problem has been supply-side issues: Hotspots are on back order and many owners report six months or more to receive their prepaid orders, meanwhile, other people who have received hotspots may have over-populated their immediate area.
For people in a hurry, Helium hosting companies have orders on hand and deliver a hotspot to an address and take a revenue share.