Interpreting Helium 5G Ecosystem Token Mobile: How Is It Different from HNT?
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Interpreting Helium 5G Ecosystem Token Mobile: How Is It Different from HNT?
What is the relationship between Helium's newly launched MOBILE token and $HNT?
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by Tushar Jain, Partner at Multicoin Capital
Compiled by TechFlow
Note: The author of this article, Tushar Jain, is a partner at Multicoin Capital, which is a core investor in Helium.
Helium recently launched a new token, $MOBILE. There has been confusion about how this new token relates to $HNT—let me clarify the relationship.
- HNT remains the primary economic asset in the Helium ecosystem; the only way to pay for data transfer on the network is by burning HNT.
- MOBILE is the governance token of the Helium subDAO, designed to enable separation of governance.
There will also be an IOT subDAO with its own token: $IOT. Each wireless subDAO can govern itself independently, enabling the DAO to make better decisions.
Each Helium subDAO manages its own Proof-of-Coverage rules, data pricing, and hotspot mining reward distribution mechanisms. This governance is carried out through voting with subDAO tokens: MOBILE or IOT.
In the future, there will be additional Helium subDAOs for new wireless technologies.
Helium 5G hotspots earn MOBILE instead of HNT. Does this mean MOBILE is cannibalizing HNT’s value? No.
The only way to pay for data transfers on the Helium network is by burning HNT. This means that HNT maintains the same burn-and-mint equilibrium it always has.
Where does the value of MOBILE come from? There are two reasons why MOBILE has value:
- Programmatic treasury redemption for HNT;
- Utility within the subDAO—currently governance only. In the future, there may be additional utilities, such as staking to boost participation in Proof-of-Coverage.
How is the redemption price of MOBILE calculated?
All HNT rewards earned by 5G hotspots over a given period are pooled together. MOBILE holders can burn their MOBILE tokens to claim a pro-rata share of HNT from this pool.
For example, if all 5G hotspots collectively earn 100 HNT and there are 10,000 MOBILE in circulation, burning 100 MOBILE would entitle you to 1 HNT.
This structure provides a floor value for MOBILE, while MOBILE can trade above this floor based on its utility.
In summary, HNT’s value accrual mechanism remains unchanged. There is simply a new subDAO token layer—such as MOBILE—that allows the Helium community to more effectively manage multiple wireless networks.
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