Helium represents a new business model for deploying wireless networks at scale at a fraction of the cost. The greater the network usage, the more scarce HNT supply will get, which could lead to a raise in its price and value.

Project start was in June 2013 but it took until July 2019 to launch the network. Since then growth is impressive with over 750.000 hotspots globally and partners like Salesforce, Lime and Dish. Among the investors are Google and Deutsche Telekom.

Helium has two units of exchange: HNT and DC (Data Credits). To use the network and transfer data one needs DC, which is fixed at $0,00001 per 24 bytes of data. DC can be acquired by burning HNT, thus reducing the supply of HNT.