Benefits of investing in Helium hotspots
Looking for new investment opportunities? Crypto assets are all the rage right now, but a lot of them really have no inherent value backing them up. Thus they may be ideal for short term gains, but they have no tangible longevity.
That doesn’t mean that there are no crypto assets without real world assets to back their value. Take the HNT cryptocurrency for example. You can earn it by adding and running Heilum network hotspots thus helping in the deployment of the “People’s Network” which everyone can use for their Internet of Things (IoT) projects.
So let’s explore what HNT, how to generate it and what are the benefits.
Note: This article is not an investment advice. It explores the possibilities of Helium hotspot earnings. Any investments should be made based on your personal decisions.
What is Helium?
As we mentioned, Helium is also known as the People’s Network. This is because it’s fully decentralized and there’s no single entity who owns Helium. Instead, people are free to join it as they please. They can also add or remove hotspots to which users can connect their devices.
Helium is based on the LoRaWAN standard and it builds on top of it by adding the Helium Blockchain. The network is designed for low-powered IoT devices and allows them to use it at very low costs with no binding subscriptions. And since it’s fully decentralized, people and businesses can add hotspots and increase coverage wherever they need it and not wait on a specific operator to do that. Plus, they can also use the network and provide coverage for as long as they want.
Helium’s main value is exactly that – the actual wireless network. It also adds the blockchain and HNT cryptocurrency as additional assets to provide both increased security for transfers and data along with financial motivations. There are already thousands of IoT devices, sensors and hotspots readily available on the market, making it easy to join Helium at any point.
How does HNT work?
HNT is the Helium-based cryptocurrency which people can earn by adding Helium hotspots (more on that in a bit). HNT used a Burn-and-Mint Equilibrium token model. There was no pre-mine of HNT and there’s a max supply cap of 223 million HNT tokens.
There are three main areas of HNT distribution. 30% of the rewards are for network data transfer. 35% go to the hotspot infrastructure. The final 35% are assigned to founders, investors and organizations who will manage the blockchain governance.
Over time HNT distribution will change. As time goes on, the majority of rewards will go to network data transfer. After the 20 year mark, distributions will become fixed will not change anymore.
Also, the max supply of 223 million HNT ensures no inflation. HNT is mined at a decreasing rate. It started at a max rate of 5 million HNT per month and it halves every two years. Since August 1st, 2021 HNT issuance is 2.5M per month.
There are also additional measures in place to ensure that even after there’s no minting of HNT, these rewards will remain available to hotspot owners. This guarantees that adding and maintaining Helium hotspots will always be one of the best ways to earn HNT.
So, how to earn HNT?
The easiest way is by adding Helium hotspots. They also act as a HNT miner and reward the cryptocurrency for passing an innovative proof-of-coverage model. There’s a special low-powered algorithm in place which validates that each hotspot is where it claims it is. It also checks for the quality of the service. So, when you add Helium hotspots to a new area or additional ones to an already covered area, but to increase the capacity and quality, you will earn HNT.
Additionally, hotspots will also earn HNT via the data transfers they process. Another way to earn is via becoming a part of the validating process. There are protections in place to ensure there’s no location spoofing or fake traffic and the blockchain provides transparency and trust.
You can also trade HNT like any other cryptocurrency. It’s available on most crypto exchanges. But the best way to earn it remains if you become a part of the actual Helium network.
Why do it?
There are more benefits of choosing Helium hotspots as a way to enter the HNT world. Firstly, this is still a very young market but it already records a very fast growth rate. There are already almost 650 000 hotspots worldwide. The average rate is about 75 000 new ones added every day. There are still a lot of areas which are prime for coverage and increasing capacity, so opportunities are plenty.
Also, the IoT world is poised for big growth in the coming years. There’s even a project to increase 5G coverage via Helium. All of this opens the doors for massive growth and innovation opportunities. Both of which are ideal nurturing ground for long-term value. This will mean HNT will have a steady price and massive speculative balloons like the ones we see for other cryptocurrencies shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Depending on who you talk to, there’s a massive ROI opportunity for HNT and Helium hotspots. Some claim up to 10x return. Even if it is less than that, patience and longevity are key to the success of Helium and HNT.
The Helium network will continue to expand and scale. Its open and decentralized nature ensures no corporation will be able to take full control. Keeping the playing field fair will be yet another reason to build and maintain investors’ and users’ trust over time.
Of course, there are always risks involved, too. So, each investment has to be done by careful consideration of potential benefits and risks.