Helium: a decentralized network that reimagines wireless connectivity

Helium is a revolutionary platform that combines wireless infrastructure with blockchain technology, creating a fully decentralized alternative to traditional communication networks. Over more than a decade of development, Helium has evolved from an ambitious project into a global network covering millions of devices worldwide, demonstrating how people can collaboratively manage critical infrastructure.

Innovative Architecture: How Helium Solves Traditional Network Problems

Helium fundamentally differs from conventional wireless networks as it is a global ecosystem of access points operating on blockchain. Instead of centralized control by telecom corporations, ordinary people and companies can deploy access points and earn rewards in cryptocurrency tokens for maintaining the network.

When the company introduced Helium Hotspot in 2019, it implemented a groundbreaking concept: wireless connectivity secured by blockchain and community-managed. The network operates on a Proof-of-Coverage (PoC) mechanism that verifies access points truly provide the required coverage and fairly distributes rewards among participants. This eliminates the need to trust centralized operators and creates a genuinely distributed infrastructure.

Today, Helium has over one million active access points covering 77,000 cities in 192 countries. This makes it the largest long-range (LoRaWAN) network globally, serviced by 25 hardware manufacturers and four roaming partners.

Multi-layer Ecosystem: IoT, 5G, and Integration with Solana

Helium is not a monolithic network — it is a comprehensive ecosystem comprising several specialized subnetworks, each with its own purpose and economy.

IoT Network: Connecting Millions of Sensors

The Helium IoT subnet combines the LoRaWAN protocol with blockchain verification, enabling companies and organizations to deploy energy-efficient sensor networks. Data from sensors is transmitted via access points and routed to dedicated servers, from where it reaches user dashboards. Users pay 1 Data Credit (DC) for each 24-byte data packet sent or received.

Practical applications showcase the potential of this approach. Roof Tec used Helium sensors to monitor roofs in real time and detected a faulty fan, preventing $40,000 in roof replacement costs. Portuguese company Greenmetrics installed soil moisture sensors that helped golf courses reduce irrigation costs by 14-28%. American company Owen Equipment used Helium-based solutions to cut logistics expenses by 47%, protecting assets worth over $2 million.

Mobile 5G Network: A Decentralized Alternative

Helium Mobile, developed by Nova Labs, offers decentralized 5G mobile services managed by the community. Access points operate on CBRS and WiFi, allowing participants to expand coverage and earn MOBILE tokens as rewards. In 2024, a service with unlimited data for $5 per month was launched in Miami, with coverage expanding to Broward and Palm Beach counties in Florida. Pricing differs from IoT: users pay $0.50 per gigabyte of data used.

Critical Move: Migration to Solana (April 2023)

On April 18, 2023, Helium made a strategic shift from its own Layer 1 blockchain to the Solana network. This decision was driven by technical limitations: the PoC algorithm and coverage verification mechanisms increasingly burdened the original architecture. Developers faced scalability and data transmission reliability issues.

Migration to Solana brought significant improvements:

• Lower Fees: where Helium charged about $0.35 per transaction, Solana averages around $0.00025 — a 1400x reduction
• Access Points as NFTs: on Solana, access points are represented as compressed NFTs, reducing storage and transaction costs
• Evolved Tokenomics: IoT device owners now mine IOT tokens instead of HNT, with the ability to swap within the Helium wallet
• Updated Governance Model: introduced veToken system with time-locked voting, where voting power depends on staking amount and duration
• Access to DeFi Ecosystem: HNT, IOT, and MOBILE holders can trade on Solana platforms like Orca and Kamino, earning liquidity rewards
• Developer and Innovation Access: migration opened the door to the large Solana developer community, using Rust instead of niche Erlang

Token Structure and Network Economy

The Helium ecosystem is built around five key tokens, each with a distinct role:

HNT — the native token of Helium. Max supply is 223 million tokens. HNT is used for governance, earning Data Credits, and interacting with smart contracts. As of February 2026, HNT trades around $0.80, down 3.16% in 24 hours, with a market cap of $149.88 million.

IOT — subnet token for IoT, mined via LoRaWAN access points. Supply capped at 200 billion tokens. IOT serves as a reward and governance tool for the IoT subnet.

MOBILE — token for the mobile subnet, issued by CBRS and WiFi access points. Max supply is 230 billion tokens. As of February 2026, MOBILE trades near $0.00 with a market cap of $6.88 million.

DC (Data Credits) — functional tokens created by burning HNT. They are used solely for paying network transaction fees and maintain a fixed USD value.

SOL — Solana tokens needed for interacting with the Solana blockchain. After Helium’s migration, SOL is required for paying fees for all on-chain operations. As of February 2026, SOL trades at $82.56, down 5.23% in 24 hours, with a market cap of $46.85 billion.

Governance System: Blockchain Democracy

Helium governance is managed through the veToken model, adapted from Curve protocol. Users who lock their tokens (HNT, IOT, or MOBILE) in staking receive corresponding voting tokens (veHNT, veIOT, veMOBILE). The longer the lock-up period, the greater the voting power.

Three subnetworks are governed independently:

• Helium Network: governed via veHNT, with staking HNT also earning rewards
• IoT subnet: governed via veIOT, with voting based on IOT staking
• Mobile subnet: governed via veMOBILE, with participants voting by locking MOBILE

On-chain voting occurs through the Realms tool on the Solana network, ensuring full transparency and censorship resistance.

Vision: From Internet of Things to Human Network

Founded in 2013 by Amir Halim (CEO), Shawn Fanning (known as one of the creators of Napster), and Shawn Carey, Helium was conceived as a platform to democratize wireless connectivity. Instead of relying on mega-corporations, ordinary people could collaboratively build and manage critical infrastructure.

Today, this vision is becoming reality. The Helium ecosystem supports over 100,000 active devices and continues to grow. The Helium Foundation has renewed its grant program to support developers creating applications for air quality monitoring, asset tracking, wildfire alerts, and more.

Migration to Solana did not mark the end of Helium’s idea — on the contrary, it expanded the platform’s capabilities, enabling integration with DeFi and opening the door to millions of new developers. Helium continues to demonstrate that community-managed decentralized networks can be more efficient, secure, and fair than centralized alternatives.