Helium (HNT): What is it? Is it a good investment?

If you want to benefit from the growing use of Helium (HNT), there are a number of ways you can invest. The most direct option is to buy Helium (HNT) itself. Even though it carries a huge risk because it is extremely volatile, it also has the potential for massive profit.

Here in this article, we’ll take a closer look at the project behind Helium (HNT) to better understand its prospects. Matters such as the team behind the project and what it entails, and what the planned developments are, are very important to know as an investor. This way you can make a well-considered choice when you decide to invest in Helium.

What is Helium?

Like MTN or Airtel, Helium is also an internet provider. However, Helium is an open-source blockchain network that aims to create a decentralized wireless network for the Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled devices (IoT).

Traditional Wi-Fi and mobile network provided by these telecommunication companies have coverage limitations and can be expensive to use. Hence, Helium is trying to solve problems such as monopolistic wireless carriers, invasive data collection, and inadequate coverage by building a decentralized wireless network that uses long-range radio waves to cover large areas. 

Helium’s network connects devices to the internet via LoRaWAN. LoRaWAN is a Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) network protocol designed to wirelessly connect IoT devices to the Internet. It is an alternative to cellular technology.

Instead of building out the network itself, users can build hotspots that deliver data to devices and act as Helium miners. Miners are rewarded with Helium tokens ( HNT ) for helping to expand and maintain the network. By allowing individuals around the world to build and manage their networks, Helium has eliminated the aforementioned growing pain points. This is a very creative way to use blockchain technology to support a worldwide wireless network.

Examples of Problems that Helium Solves

Smart farming

Thanks to Helium, ‘smart agriculture’ can develop further. With cheap and trusted coverage through hundreds of devices, problems within agriculture can be quickly traced. This is made possible by Helium in several ways. 

For example, the Helium network ensures that the agricultural environment can be monitored remotely. This means, among other things, that the quality of the irrigation, the temperature, and the conditions in greenhouses are monitored so that people are better informed and better decisions are made in order to optimize production.

Because sensors report the data, there will be less wastage. Problems related to weather or irrigation will be reduced, as well as the costs associated with the renovation process. An additional advantage is that future harvests can be better predicted based on the data provided by the network.

Logistics and supply

Another benefit for the food sector is the security that Helium provides. The dispatch of the products or expensive machines can be easily tracked. In addition, the network provides security for the relevant location and the livestock at a livestock farm. This ensures that no livestock is unnecessarily lost and costs are also saved during the entire process.

Due to the many sensors, Helium makes it possible to improve the supply in a reliable way. Vehicles and stocks, among other things, can be followed directly, which also applies to the entire process of the products and machines concerned. This makes theft more difficult and it quickly becomes clear where mistakes are made. By reducing errors, costs are reduced, because, for example, less loss takes place. 

Smart cities

Helium provides solutions for cities by ensuring public safety. In the future, cities will increasingly work with data. This development will allow for better management of energy and resources, which should result in a higher quality of life for the inhabitants. In addition, this development will also ensure that a lot of costs can be saved.

Among other things, the air quality in cities is monitored by the Helium network. Both indoors and outdoors, Helium offers the possibility to closely monitor the air quality. In the event of a major problem in this area, authorities can act quickly and a disaster can be prevented.

The team behind Helium

Helium was founded in 2013 by Shawn Fanning, Amir Haleem, and Sean Carey with a mission to create a “people-powered network” by strengthening communities through a system of shared Internet access points rather than using large cell towers to distribute wireless Internet throughout communities.

The project has the backing of many companies like Union Square Ventures and Multicoin Capital.

Shawn Fanning is known for his involvement in the development of the music exchange platform Napster. This was one of the first peer-to-peer internet services in the 1990s. 

Amir became CEO at Helium and had a long career in the video game industry as CTO at gaming startup Diversion. The current CTO is a Dutchman named Marc Nijdam who worked as a researcher at Hewlett-Packard, among others. 

Sean Carey was involved in several companies. He was with an ad optimization company – which was subsequently purchased by PayPal.

Some of the world’s most prominent Venture Capital (VC) companies have invested in Helium, including Khosla Ventures, FirstMark Capital, and GV (formerly Google Ventures).

The Expectations and Developments of the Helium Project 

In October 2021, Helium announced a partnership with internet services giant DISH. DISH Wireless is building a next-gen 5G network to disrupt the wireless industry and drive innovation in transportation, healthcare, education, sustainability, urban management, and agriculture. This is the first collaboration between Helium and a major provider.

Also, in September 2021, Helium partnered with FreedomFi, a kind of do-it-yourself technology package for building 5G networks. The partnership should enable participants to be paid to support the rollout of next-generation wireless networks by building their own mini-cellular towers. In principle, every household can have a miniature cell tower that providers can use for 5G traffic.

The Popularity of Helium

Helium is very active on social media, communicating with investors and miners through multiple channels. The reach of these channels is very high, the project has thousands of followers on every social media platform. Most people are reached via Twitter and Reddit, where Helium has 168,000+ and 99,000+ followers respectively.

Current state of the Helium (HNT) market

According to CoinMarketCap, the price of HNT is $7.25 with a daily trading volume of $9,473,151 at the time of writing. However, HNT has increased by almost 2.64% in the last 24 hours. Additionally, HNT ranks #59 and currently trades on cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, Mandala Exchange, FTX, Bybit, and KuCoin.

Where to buy Helium (HNT)

You can buy Helium (HNT) from major crypto exchanges. The best place to buy is at Binance, which is by far the leading exchange.

Is Helium (HNT) a good investment? (Opinions and Predictions)

Helium is a very interesting project which intends to take advantage of the buoyant sector of the Internet of Things. There are plenty of companies that could benefit from Helium’s use case. The connections that it makes are cheaper than the 4G connections of other network providers.

Hence, the Helium forecast can therefore look increasingly positive as more people use the network.

Medium Term Helium Price Prediction

Helium is at a relatively low level, but the trend is still bullish compared to the market. This is an opportunity to buy the pullback. 

Long Term Helium Price Prediction

With the development of IoT network all over the world, Helium will be pulled up. Experts say the price of $150 for the HNT/USD pair is realistic in the nearest future.

Conclusion

Despite the latest downward price action, many top crypto analysts believe that HNT is “an incredible long-term investment” adding that it has potential for long-term gains.

However, cryptocurrencies are high-risk assets. You should do your own research, and assess the level of risk you are willing to accept before investing. And never invest money you can’t afford to lose.