Even more protocols besides IoT and 5G could be offered by Helium as it readies a new “network of networks” approach.

News
Technology
Helium Crypto Wireless Network to Launch New Tokens Amid Expansion
Even more protocols besides IoT and 5G could be offered by Helium as it readies a new “network of networks” approach.
Andrew Hayward
By Andrew Hayward
Jun 12, 2022
4 min read





In brief
Helium will launch new MOBILE and IOT tokens as it expands its crypto-powered wireless network.
The token-incentivized network may also expand to include additional decentralized protocols.
Helium's novel concept—standing up a wireless network for sensors and trackers that is powered by token-rewarded node operators—has earned significant support. Nova Labs, the recently-renamed startup that represents Helium’s founders, announced today that the network will launch new crypto tokens tied to individual networks.

The shift to a new model comes as Helium attempts to expand its offerings with 5G connectivity and more.


The existing HNT token will continue to exist and serve as something of a “reserve currency” or “floor currency” for the expanding Helium ecosystem, Nova Labs CEO and co-founder Amir Haleem told Decrypt.

Meanwhile, Helium will first launch a new MOBILE crypto token this month, which will reward people who operate a 5G node and contribute coverage to Helium’s latest network.

Early adopters who run 5G nodes—there are about 5,000 of them, Haleem estimated—are not currently being rewarded for providing coverage for devices like phones and laptops. That will change once the MOBILE token is live, ahead of Helium’s plans to rapidly scale the 5G network as hardware partners like FreedomFi seek to lower prices for the nodes.more

Are we firmly in a Crypto Winter? It was another down week for the leading coins as regulators continued their scrutiny of the industry. Market leader Bitcoin weathered the storm better than most leading coins and declined just 3% in the last seven days. It trades for $28,733 at the time of writing.

Ethereum wasn’t as lucky. The No. 2 cryptocurrency by market capitalization fell 11% over the week and currently trades for $1,579. That was despite the long-awaited Ethereum "Merge" to proof-of-stake got one step closer to its expected August completion when the merge trial successfully went live on the Ropsten testnet on Wednesday.more

But Jack, what happened to Web4?
Dorsey’s TBD, a subsidiary company within Block (previously known as Square), announced today that it is building “Web5: An extra decentralized web platform.”Dorsey also took a not-so-subtle shot at "Web3," which refers to the next iteration of the internet—one that its proponents argue will return the ownership of data to users through decentralized technologies like blockchain networks.

“RIP web3 VCs,” Dorsey tweeted.

Dorsey has in the past been critical of current Web3 models that rely on venture capital funding, singling out Andreessen Horowitz in particular. His use of "Web5" appears to be another deliberate, and cheeky, way to publicly address those concerns.

In terms of what Dorsey's Web5 will actually do, TBD’s website states that the current iteration of the internet is still missing an “identity” layer.more

Terra's collapse boosted activity on Ethereum and BNB Chain. But Tron is also getting a boost from its algorithmic stablecoin that resembles... Terra.
After combing DeFiLlama, we also can identify to which specific projects some of this money is flowing.

On Ethereum, projects like Arrakis Finance (liquidity management protocol), Iron Bank (a protocol-to-protocol lending platform), and Euler (another lending platform) have been key in absorbing new money within DeFi.

As for BNB Chain, projects like pNetwork (a validator network), Wombat Exchange (a Curve-like decentralized exchange), and TokensFarm (a yield aggregator), all have thrived over the past month too.

Despite all the maximalism in this space, the wide variety of types of projects gaining traction across different chains is a healthy phenomenon.more

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have sprung up around the world—but the U.S. SEC continues to stonewall proposals for a Bitcoin spot ETF. Since the first application for a U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded fund was filed in 2013, a Bitcoin ETF has become something of a holy grail for the crypto community.

An ETF is a publicly-traded investment vehicle that tracks the value of an underlying asset; in the case of a Bitcoin ETF, that asset is Bitcoin. Advocates for a Bitcoin ETF argue that the complexities of exchanges, crypto wallets, and private keys still present a daunting barrier to entry into the crypto space for newcomers. A Bitcoin ETF would enable these investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without actually having to hold their own cryptocurrency.more information

The price of Bitcoin has broken an all-time high today amid the launch of Bitcoin futures ETF trading yesterday.The price of Bitcoin has risen 3% over the last 24 hours to surpass its previous all-time high of $64,804.72, set on April 14. At press time, the leading cryptocurrency is trading at $64,872.47, according to CoinGecko.

BTC has been charging upward since bottoming out at just below $30,000 on July 20. Much of that price movement has come since the end of a lackluster September; it's up nearly 50% in that period. The working theory is that Bitcoin's price rose mainly due to the prospects of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permitting a Bitcoin futures ETF proposal to go through—for the first time. However, the price stalled over the weekend after it became clear the SEC would allow the ProShares Bitcoin Strategies ETF—which is backed by Bitcoin futures—to begin trading on Tuesday.more information

The project is the latest DeFi protocol to be hit with a monster attack. On Thursday, a hacker ran off with $16 million from decentralized finance (DeFi) project Indexed Finance—but now the protocol’s team says they know who the attacker is.

Indexed Finance is a DeFi project built on Ethereum. It produces tokens that track market indexes. A hacker took the assets that were backing the value of the index tokens by finding a vulnerability in the protocol’s smart contracts.

The attack was typical of DeFi exploits: the hacker took advantage of the flash loan mechanism by overloading the protocol with new assets. This lowered the price of the Indexed tokens, which then allowed the attacker to mint new ones and cash them out.more information