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The Solana craze isn't over yet. Just yesterday, we reported that Solana's Web3 Saga phone has been selling for up to $5,000 on eBay as Solana memecoin BONK shoots to the moon.
BONK soared 675%, catching the attention of degens who are now aping into Solana's Saga phone, which comes loaded with 30 million BONK.
Blockhead
But BONK is just the tip of the iceberg. Another Solana-based memecoin, which goes by the name of Helium Mobile, has skyrocketed over 2700% this month.
The Helium Foundation, which runs a decentralized wireless Internet of Things network, migrated to Solana on March 27. The migration encompassed all wallets, hotspots, and the Helium Network state.
Backed by investors Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global, the company promised to build a global wireless internet connection for objects like parking meters and dog collars. People could buy a machine that looked like a wifi router, plug it into their wall, and receive Helium’s cryptocurrency in return, which would supposedly provide a recurring passive stream of income.
However, the company has struggled to generate revenue, and people who have invested in it have seen vanishingly small crypto rewards. A Forbes investigation found that executives and their friends quietly hoarded the majority of wealth at the project’s inception. The review of leaked internal documents, transaction data, and interviews with former Helium employees showed that at the start of the project, a majority of tokens were claimed by insiders, which included Helium employees, their friends and family, and early investors.
The Helium Network's main token is called HNT, which has enjoyed a 317% rise over the past month. MOBILE is the protocol token of the Helium Mobile Network. MOBILE is mined by 5G-CBRS and WiFi Hotspots through both data transfer proceeds as well as Proof of Coverage.
Much of MOBILE's momentum comes from the nationwide launch of its unlimited data, talk and text package for $20 per month in partnership with T-Mobile.
Nova Labs, the creator of Helium Network, offers a hybrid cell service that connects users to its decentralized network. T-Mobile takes over when Helium hotspots are unable to provide coverage.
T-Mobile charges for its backup coverage but Helium's strength is in major cities.
“All we need is to cover 3% or even less of the geographic area where data is used the most and this will result in more than 50% of the T-Mobile traffic actually shifting to the Helium network,” said Boris Renski, general manager of wireless at Nova Labs.
Helium Mobile has gained around 8,000 subscribers so far. New users can claim rewards by sharing their connection data with Helium. NFTs are offered to those who share their data, which is stored in their Helium wallet. Holders then receive a share of MOBILE mapping rewards.
SOL Moons
Whilst MOBILE and BONK are enjoying a rise on their own accord, their performance has been strengthened by Solana's recent surge. Up over 30% this month, Solana's pump might not be comparable to that of memecoins but for a top-10 blue-chip crypto, its performance is commendable. Bitcoin is only up 13% over the same period.
Going Onchain
