Helium: People Powered Networks
Currently, there are no cryptocurrency projects that are truly decentralized. Each one of them falls victim to the same problem: The Networks by which we connect to the internet are all centralized. Helium is a cryptocurrency project which aims to change that, by creating the first peer-to-peer network, in which anyone can participate!
What is Helium
Helium (HNT) is a cryptocurrency project which allows users to share data with one another. The project consists of three major components: Helium hotspots, the Helium console, and the Helium blockchain. These three components come together to create a decentralized, cryptocurrency powered network.
Helium Background
Helium was created by Shawn Fanning, Amir Haleem, and Sean Carey, in 2013. Shawn Fanning may be a name you have heard before. This is because Fanning was also the cocreator of the peer-to-peer music sharing service Napster. Although Napster had a short run, the music sharing service had over 27 million users at its peak. Fanning is currently also working on about half a dozen tech projects besides Helium. All of which are successful. It is fair to say Fanning has a great deal of experience in the field of tech startups.
Shawn Fanning, Amir Haleem, and Sean Carey structured Helium around many of the components which made Napster so wildly successful, when they were drafting the white paper for the project. Originally the trio wanted to take on the telecommunications market, but they soon realized that their competition in this field had far too much money and government control to allow them to create a decentralized form of telecommunications. Fanning, Haleem, and Carey shifted their focus to the then developing field of the Internet of Things.
Helium Hotspots
Helium hotspots are at the core of the Helium project. Helium hotspots are like Wi Fi routers; however, they do not transmit a Wi Fi signal. Instead, Helium routers transmit what is known as a Long Fi signal at a low frequency, which is similar to radio. This low frequency allows Helium hotspots to transmit data for hundreds of kilometers. By comparison, normal Wi Fi routers only broadcast a signal for about 50 meters. Any supported wireless devices which fall within the range of a Helium Hotspot can easily exchange data packets amongst one another. Currently there are over 200 thousand Helium hotspots in operation around the world.
One of the greatest benefits of Helium hotspots is the lack of energy they use to function. Because they transmit data at a low frequency, they take almost no electricity to power. Devices connected to Helium hotspots require very little energy to communicate for the same reason.
There are 13 companies which produce Helium hotspots that are available for purchase, or you can even make your own Helium hotspot out of a traditional Wi Fi router, as the design schematics are open source and available on the Helium webpage. Companies can also create their own Helium compatible devices for a variety of reasons. Lime is one of the most notable companies which utilizes the Helium network to track their pay-to-use electric scooters and bicycles, which have become commonplace in many metropolitan areas.
Helium Blockchain
It costs cryptocurrency to fetch data from Helium hotspots. Similarly, active Helium hotspots are used to validate blocks and respectively earn HNT tokens as incentivization for participation in the network. Helium also utilizes a kind of secondary consensus mechanism known as Proof of Coverage. This ensures that the majority if Helium hotspots are active and broadcasting a Long Fi signal, by having Helium hotspots systematically and randomly challenge each other’s connections. For this reason, Helium rewards participant who set up their Helium hotspots within range of one another, although participants can still operate standalone Helium hotspots if they so desire. When a Helium hotspot challenges another Helium hotspot and the test is successful, both Helium hotspots receive block rewards.
HNT
HNT is the native currency of the Helium blockchain. There is a total supply of 223 million HNT tokens. Helium never held an ICO or pre-mine for HNT. The supply literally started at zero when HNT was released. HNT has a halving event every two years, which will continue until the maximum supply is reached within approximately 50 years.
HNT is not the utility token of the Helium blockchain. Instead, HNT tokens are burned to mint what are known as Data Credits. These Data Credits are used by devices on the network to pay for access to data. Data Credits cannot be turned back into HNT tokens and are burned when used. This makes HNT a deflationary asset.
Conclusion
Helium and the HNT token have been boasting exceptional performance and growth since the project’s inception. Projects like this, which have both quality price action and significant use cases are exactly what Killer Whale looks for when it comes to coins with potential. Be sure to check out the Killer Whale Products Page to see which Killer Whale signals and strategies are right for you!
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