Pinned as the new sensation of the Internet of Things (IoT) cryptocurrencies and aimed at bettering communities, the Helium blockchain is less than a decade old but has had a rather successful 2021.
Developed with the goal of creating a physical, decentralised wireless network, Helium is paying individuals in Helium cryptocurrency (HNT) to operate LoRaWAN (a Low Power, Wide Area network protocol designed to wirelessly connect IoT devices to the world wide web) hotspots, which communicate to wireless internet connections, instead of producing such links themselves.
With a community of 421,915 total hotspots in 157 countries and with over 108m HNT circulating supply, the blockchain was ranked second among IoT tokens by its market capitalisation which surpassed $3bn beating IoT token giants like IOTA and IOTX.
The company aims to create a “people-powered network” by strengthening communities through a shared internet hotspots system instead of using big cellular towers to distribute wireless internet connection through communities.
The Helium coin enjoyed a positive start to 2021, with a surge of nearly 705% between March and November 2021, when the Helium coin value reached an all-time high of $55.22. Will NHT regain those highs and what factors are shaping the Helium crypto forecast going forward?
What is Helium coin?
Helium’s origins date back to 2013, when three individuals came together with one goal in mind: make building connected devices much easier.
The Helium blockchain, however, launched six years later, on 29 July, 2019 powering the largest, public, decentralised LoRaWAN Network globally.
By using an algorithm-based mechanism called Proof of Coverage (PoC) to check the locations and legibility of hotspots, Helium rewards its users who are contributing to the distribution of the internet by allowing them to mine for the Helium token.
Once a user purchases a Helium hotspot, they become part of The People’s Network and thus, get the opportunity to mine for HNT.
Helium hotspot owners earn Helium tokens for providing internet to neighbouring devices. Helium tokens can either be exchanged for data credits, US dollar-pegged utility tokens, which is what aids the hotspot device to surf the Helium network or simply to US dollars.
Individuals with hotspots receive a portion of Helium tokens based on how much they contribute to the network. Generally, HNT tokens can be earned in four simple ways:
- By transferring data from devices on the Helium network. PoC is used to validate wireless coverage which amounts to approximately 0.9% of earnings.
- By participating in PoC challenges and validating others’ wireless coverage. Each hotspot involved in the challenge will earn a portion of the HNT allocated for the task.
- By monitoring PoC activity of other hotspots.
- And by transferring data from devices on the network.
Helium also has a system of transaction fees which are paid in data credits.
A bullish start to the Helium token price
It has taken the HNT coin nearly two years to reach its first double digits, however, the token’s first noticeable surge was when it broke through the $1 barrier.
In August 2020, the company announced that it launched its data credits which boosted the token’s price by 250% between 11 and 17 August 11 2020.
This surge continued deep into September with the coin’s price rising up to $3.17 by the end of the month, however, soon dropping to values just above $1.
The Helium token to USD price surged once again in November, rising from $1.35 on 18 November to $1.9 on the next day, when Helium announced the approval of the Helium Improvement Proposal 20 (HIP 20) that allowed for a maximum NHT supply limit of 223m. This surge in the coin’s price opened wide a door for more positive changes to come in 2021.
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