Chapter 4. Helium: A Blockchain-Based Wireless Network
The first major [blockchain] breakthrough was bitcoin, which invented digital gold. The second was Ethereum, which introduced general-purpose smart contracts. Helium presents the most ambitious new use case for blockchains we’ve seen since Ethereum.1
—Kyle Samani, managing partner, Multicoin Capital
Helium was no longer just hot air.
As CEO Amir Haleem looked over the crowd of several hundred people who had filled Austin’s trendy La Condesa restaurant for the August 2019 Helium launch party, he was overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response of all these early users who were eager to build The People’s Network. After months of marketing and promotion, participants had come from all over Texas to pick up their Helium Hotspots. Helium was now a real shipping product, not just vaporware.
As Amir conversed with members of the crowd, he noted some were blockchain enthusiasts, some were Internet of Things (IoT) experts, and some were just geeks who wanted to be part of this groundbreaking experiment. These early users would be building a massive wireless network not on phone company towers, but on small wireless devices located in their offices and bedrooms. In return, they’d be paid in blockchain-based Helium tokens.
These little Hotspots, in other words, would be minting money.
Knowing that the strength of any blockchain project is user adoption—getting people to join your blockchain—Amir understood that this small but committed ...
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