Among other things, The 'Zo' Code is a platform for me to share some of the methods I use to become financially independent. How would you like to earn passive income by just plugging something in your wall and going about your day? Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, keep listening. We're about to take a quick dive into a cryptocurrency called Helium.
Helium is one of those projects that are way ahead of its time and have been at the cusp of something special for a while now. As of late, it's gaining a lot of traction and is seemingly one of the most fascinating and unique blockchain projects in the crypto space.
Helium is a Peer-to-Peer Network where IoT devices can send data to and from the internet through Helium hotspots powered by Helium's own open-source blockchain technology called LongFi. Like huh, what? Yeah, I know that was a lot to digest in one sentence so let's break this down using The 'Zo' Code.
Firstly, IoT stands for the Internet of Things. In a nutshell, an 'IoT device' is any physical object with a sensor attached that allows it to transfer data to and from the internet. Think of things like smart home security cameras, Amazon Echo and Google home as IoT devices that some of us may already use daily. Smartphones, laptops, and tablets are not considered IoT devices because they require human interaction and control.
The 'IoT network' is defined as a network of networks that can communicate without human interaction. IoT devices are categorized by performing a specific low bandwidth task like reading a temperature on your refrigerator and displaying it or the GPS trackers on a dog collar. Often, IoT devices need to transmit data over long distances where Wi-Fi or cellular coverage may not be available. This is where Helium comes into play by providing more network coverage.
To make this possible, Helium created 'hotspots' or miners to power their Helium network of public hotspots. Thanks to the help of the blockchain, Helium has decentralized IoT coverage across the world. The network uses its own open-source blockchain technology architecture called Helium LongFi. Hotspots provide connectivity, covering up to 10 square miles per hotspot. If you want to read a bit more on Long Fi, click here.
Helium's main objective is to build the world's first peer-to-peer wireless IoT network, coining the term 'The People's Network.' When you own a Helium Hotspot (miner), you can earn Helium tokens or HNT (Helium's native cryptocurrency) in the process. In this case, you are mining HNT's which are worth real money. The tokens are a cryptocurrency and the incentive for letting the public use your hotspot. The more people who buy hotspots, the more network coverage and the more money you can earn.
Miners earn HNT coins by validating and connecting to other IoT devices using a system called 'Proof of Coverage.' Helium went from no miners in 2019 to over 34,000 hotspots in over 3,800 cities globally. The IoT market revenue is $212 Billion globally, and by 2030 we are expected to have 50 billion devices online.
Now, you're probably wondering if this miner will send your electricity bill through the roof? The short story is that it won't. The Helium miner uses about 20-40 GBS of data a month. For all non-techies, 20-40 GBS is equivalent to watching four hours of Netflix in 4K quality. Watching a TV show in 4K takes up 7GBS an hour. Not too shabby, right?
Just to clarify, this hotspot isn't something that is going to replace your Wi-Fi, at least not yet. For now, Helium hotspots connect low bandwidth IoT devices at 200x the range of Wi-Fi. It's like maximum battery life without cellular networks, at a fraction of the cost. Unlike several other cryptocurrency projects, Helium is not built on Ethereum. It's built on its own chain and open source, as I mentioned earlier. But like Bitcoin, Helium has a maximum supply. There will only ever be 223 million HNT mined.
With Helium, there is a mining target of 5 million HNT per month, but there is a halving period on August 1st that will decrease the mining target to 2.5 million HNT monthly. Helium halves every two years, while Bitcoin halving happens every four years. More simply, it's basic supply and demand. When you bring down the supply of something, you're boosting the scarcity of it. The demand (price) of Helium will go up as the supply goes down.
There's no room for me to go into detail about how these hotspots validate transactions and add blocks to the Helium blockchain. But if you're extremely curious about the Helium token economy, you can head over to this link that will describe it in more depth.
As an investment, you can get one, or two or three… of these Helium hotspot miners, plug it in and earn tokens. As the price of HNT goes up, you can cash in these tokens daily, weekly, or monthly for fiat currency or swap them for other cryptocurrencies. All this while being able to say that you have played a part in shaping the direction of the Future. Now, if you look at the Helium chart, you can see the price of HNT has moved quite a bit, and you're probably wondering if it's too late… short answer is NO. Click here to see what the Helium hotspots are earning in your area.
What's the forecast with Helium? Well, the Future of Helium will be with 5G TECHNOLOGY (which has just been finalized). Helium has partnered with Freedom Fi – a company that creates open-source 5G devices. Through this partnership, Helium and Freedom Fi will create a 5G LTE network where "every house can basically have a miniature cell tower that carriers can use to offload traffic anytime they're near it." This will stamp Helium as the first consumer-owned 5G network in the world! You'll put an antenna in your house or your roof. It'll be your own personal service. As long as you have a smartphone that supports 5G, you will soon be able to connect to the 5G Helium network!
Now the burning question is where you can purchase this miner! Due to such popular demand, all of the Helium Miners are sold out. The good news is you can place an order now! It takes about 3 months to ship. Instead of producing a large volume of miners and selling them to consumers, companies take orders for a particular period (let's say 3 months). Once they've got 'x's numbers of orders, they then manufacture the set number and ship the order to customers. Click here to check out the different Helium miners. BUT… you may just want to wait it out and purchase a Freedom Fi miner- everything the IoT miner carries (earning HNT tokens) plus the radio's for 5G technology. Freedom Fi is available for pre-order now. Click here.
I've broken it down and given you a few options. I hope you find Helium as fascinating as I do, especially in the context of everything we've discussed on The 'ZO' Code to date.
The Helium network is decentralizing the 'internet provider.' That's why Helium has branded itself as the 'Peoples Network.' Instead of you paying your cellular provider a high fixed rate every month, with extra fees etc. It gives the power back to the people. You only pay for what you use. Anyone can host a hotspot and be a provider, and nobody can cut off your access.
Be apart of the Future!
Have a great week and stay curious
-Zo
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