Do you want to get rich in a short time? The
Helium People s network currently is growing like hell and creates a lot of wealth. It combines
LoRaWAN technology with cryptocurrency. How does it work, and should you join it?
Let s have a closer look. And please, watch the video till the end. This time it is vital!
Gr ezi YouTubers. Here is the guy with the Swiss accent. With a new episode and fresh ideas around
sensors and microcontrollers. Remember: If you subscribe, you will always sit in the first row.
My frequent viewers know that this channel covered many important LoRa topics like building antennas,
improving range, etc. All essential stuff for Helium hotspot owners. If you are only interested
in these things, go to the video description to find a link to the LoRa playlist. Stay here
if you are interested in the whole story.
What is the Helium network? It is
a competitor to The Things Network and also an open Sensor network based on the
LoRaWAN standard. Its purpose is to transport short messages from sensors to the network.
It also is based on gateways that are deployed by individuals and not by the Helium company. The big
difference between the two is how the network is financed. TTN transports all data free of charge.
This is possible because a lot of enthusiasts contribute gateways without any financial
interest. Most of them are nerds like me.
On the Helium network, data transport costs a
small amount. This money will be given to the gateway owners as a return on investment.
Gateways, BTW, are called hotspots in the Helium network and cost 400-500 dollars. They
use the same technology and even the same packet forwarder software from Semtech as TTN.
Also, the sensor technology has to be the same.
To distribute the money from
the users to the gateway owners, Helium uses HNT, a cryptocurrency created for
this purpose. A fair concept, and much more sustainable in a capitalistic world, isn t it?
For my Ph.D. in Business Administration, I had to calculate a lot of business cases. So
let s use what I learned and do a quick check:
First, we have to understand
a few technical facts:
- LoRa is a Low Power Long Range protocol.
It operates in license-free ISM bands
- It is different from 5G, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth
because of its very low data rate. This is why, as we will later see, Helium data credits
are calculated in bytes and not Gigabytes as in mobile phones or Wi-Fi
- The protocol is standardized, and there is only one supplier of chips: The
French company, Semtech. So all LoRaWAN networks have the same basic function and components
- One hotspot can transport messages for up to 1000 sensors
- According to RAK wireless, one of the big manufacturers of Helium hotspots, only 50-100 Hotspots are needed to
cover an entire city. Which is evident because LoRa is a Long-Range technology
- Companies can build private networks if they do not trust public networks
What are use-cases for such networks? Here we have a selection: From Agriculture to
Smart Supply Chain. They have one thing in common: They are only used if other protocols do not
work. At home or in factories, for example, we use Wi-Fi. In crowded areas, we generally use 4 or 5G
networks. Only in rural areas without 4G coverage or in cities when we do not want to replace
the battery frequently, LoRa is preferred.
Let s start the business case with the customers
of the network. One data credit costs $0.00001 and is good to transfer 24 bytes. Let s assume
one gateway costs $400. How many data packets does it have to receive to reach break-even?
400/0.00001 = 40 million messages. Not bad, because LoRa nodes, to save energy, do not often
transfer messages. So the deal for the potential network user is outstanding. The operation of
thousands of nodes only costs a few dollars, without investment into the network. So we
can assume they got lots of large companies waiting in a queue to use Helium. Looking at
the short list of reference customers, we see that using the Helium network must be extremely
strategic and secret. Obviously, none of their big customers want to read its name here. Mostly
small companies or startups are on the list.
But is the business case also suitable
for the investor of a gateway?
The current Helium network consists
of an impressive number of nearly 40 000 hotspots. If we look where they are located,
we see: They are concentrated in major cities. Most of the world is not covered. If we zoom
in, we see, for example, that San Francisco has hundreds of active hotspots. So there must be
a ton of data to be transported to pay for all those hotspots. Fortunately, all Helium
transactions are stored on a blockchain. So we can check the data traffic. Of course, we
do not see who sent the data or its content. They are encrypted. But we can count the packages. And
even better: To show potential hotspot investors like us how much money we can make, Helium is
very transparent and shows a lot of information. Because I know how LoRa works, it is easy to
find a hotspot at a good location. Its name is Fluffy-bronze-turtle. Interesting name for a
professional network. BTW: Potential customers, for sure, are also attracted by the knowledgeable
hotspot operators. To create your own opinion, maybe you watch some of their channels.
I leave links in the description. Trust is everything for such networks, and so far,
lack of trust in public networks was the main reason companies built their private networks.
Fluffy-bronze-turtle s location must be excellent. It has lots of connections and for sure will get
a ton of data traffic from downtown San Francisco. And really, last month, its owner earned 280
HNT. Which today is 280x14.41=4034.8 dollars. Not bad for an investment of 400 dollars. The
business case for us potential hotspot owners is obvious. The hotspot is paid in three
days. No Ph.D. needed to see that!
BTW: Here you see the curve of the HNT value in
dollars. From 24 cents one year ago to 14 dollars now. 5858% increase. Mindboggling! It is obvious:
The whole business world uses the Helium network!
So let s check fluffy s data traffic. Fortunately,
we can see all activity and even can export it to CSV. Here are the results: Since its installation,
this hotspot made 1510 HNT or 20 000 dollars. 1298 HNT for POC_Witness, 191 for POC_challengees,
20 for POC_challengers, and 0.00 for data_credits. Strange. If we add a few places after the comma,
we see that it really received a few data packets. But what is the rest? POC means Prove of
coverage. These are messages inside the network, for example, to check if the hotspot s locations
are accurate and if they work. With this concept, Helium only had to pay 20 000 dollars to check
if the hotspot works. What a great idea.
I am sure this low data volume is an exception
and has a reason I do not understand. Other hotspots must see much more data traffic.
So let s check another one: Passive Purple Ram. Also nicely located in SFA. His
owner got 4717HNT or 68 000 dollars because his hotspot runs for a whole year.
Incredible! But also here we see the same pattern: Data credits are less than one cent for a whole
year. Extremely strange. Fortunately, we can see how many data credits were earned by the whole
Helium network over the last 30 days. 32 million. Not bad. Let s check how much the
customers paid for it: 325 dollars. So the entire turnover of Helium as a network
for data in the last month was 325 dollars!
So it seems, Helium found a way to distribute
a ton of money to the hotspot owners without data traffic!
Anyway: Who cares about transporting data? We want to get rich,
and Helium obviously creates wealth. I also do not know how my car works
in detail and still can use it.
Now I remember what a few of my viewers wrote:
With my knowledge about LoRa, I can get rich. How cool is that? Shortly before my retirement, I
have to hurry up. Unfortunately, Helium Hotspots are sold out and have a long waiting list.
RAK wireless, for example, only delivers 250 hotspots a day, and the waiting list is longer
than the list for a vaccination appointment. So I remembered the call from the Helium representative
last year. Helium is open and allows Makers to build their own hotspots. These hotspots are
nothing special: just a Raspberry Pi and a concentrator plus the needed software. The same
parts we use for standard LoRaWAN Gateways. Of course, I have the material here, and I even found
their Github page. Very good. A concentrator and a Raspberry Pi costs less than 200 dollars. Much
less than the 400 dollars for a ready-made device. Then I discovered that, unfortunately, Helium
does no more allow us to build our own gateways. Certainly, they have a good reason to no more
allow the saving of at least 200 dollars.
So, if you want to participate, you have to
hurry up and order one, or maybe ten hotspots, wait till they arrive, and install them in
all places you know. The more, the better. If you do not want to wait, you even can buy HNTs
without any hotspot, wait for a little till they are much, much more valuable, and sell them with a
considerable profit. An excellent plan, I think.
There is only a tiny problem: Some people
might tell you that the facts we saw up till now very much look like a Ponzi scheme where early
investors get a reward as long as the network is growing. You decide. I assume you are an adult and
know that you are responsible for your dealings.
As always, you find all the
relevant links in the description
This was probably the last video on this channel. If my plans work, I will have
no more time to create videos because I have to spend all my Helium money.
See you in Marbella, Miami, or Tahiti. Bye
