Helium

Helium is a decentralized wireless network designed to let low-power devices connect to the internet without relying on traditional cellular or Wi-Fi infrastructure. It addresses the problem of affordable, wide-area connectivity for Internet of Things devices such as sensors and trackers. Physical operators deploy radio hotspots that together form the network, and the HNT token is the economic layer that compensates those operators.

Hotspot owners provide radio coverage and, when devices route data through their hotspot, they earn HNT tokens as a reward. The project description states that mining periods run roughly every 30 to 60 minutes, at which point newly minted tokens are distributed to hotspot owners, Helium Inc., and investors according to a fixed allocation. Helium migrated to the Solana blockchain, placing its token settlement on that network while the physical radio layer remains decentralized across operator-owned hardware.

The protocol recorded trailing 12-month fees of 2,296,688 USD, and the stored data shows that figure is identical to trailing 12-month revenue, meaning the entirety of fee income flows directly back to the network rather than being separated into a distinct protocol treasury cut. These fees originate from devices paying to transmit data through hotspots, with hotspot operators receiving the corresponding rewards. The circulating supply stands at approximately 191 million HNT against a maximum supply of 223 million, and the supply-versus-max figure of roughly 85.7 percent means most tokens that will ever exist have already been issued, leaving a dilution overhang of 0.0 percent in the stored data.