Helium Price Prediction: Is HNT a Good Investment?

Helium is one of the few projects in crypto that’s doing more than just promising change. As a frontrunner in the DePIN sector, Helium is challenging the telecom industry with a decentralized alternative to traditional infrastructure. Its model flips the script: individuals operate wireless nodes, earn token rewards, and help power real-world connectivity.

After a relatively quiet stretch, Helium is showing signs of renewed momentum. Over 95,000 mobile hotspots are now live, daily users have climbed to nearly 870,000, and data transfer is surging past 28 TB per day. 

This article breaks down how Helium got here and where it could go next. We’ll look at the mechanics behind its decentralized wireless architecture, how its move to Solana restructured the project, the evolving token model, and what the numbers say about HNT’s upside or limits.

What is Helium?

Helium started as a network for connecting low-power Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Think sensors, trackers, and monitors that don’t need broadband speeds but do need reliable, long-range signal. The original network used LoRaWAN, a protocol designed for low data, high distance communication. It worked. Thousands of contributors set up Helium hotspots across the globe, earning HNT by routing tiny packets of sensor data. But that was just the starting point

The real pivot came with Helium Mobile, a push to expand beyond IoT and into consumer-grade cellular service. Instead of relying on centralized towers, Helium Mobile lets users install small-scale 5G hotspots in their homes or offices. These personal nodes form the backbone of a decentralized mobile carrier network, one that pays contributors for coverage and usage.

This model falls under a broader category called DePIN: decentralized physical infrastructure networks. It’s a mouthful, but the idea is simple. People build the infrastructure, earn from it, and cut out traditional gatekeepers. It’s the same logic driving Filecoin (storage), Render (compute), and WeatherXM (sensors). Helium brings that logic to wireless.

What sets Helium apart is that it already works. Most crypto projects are still pushing roadmaps. Helium has live coverage, real users, and phone plans you can actually buy. It’s not a whitepaper, it’s a product.

Helium’s Migration to Solana

Helium didn’t start on Solana. For years, the network ran on its own custom-built L1 blockchain. At first, it worked well. But as Helium scaled, the limitations became clear.

By 2021, the network had exceeded 1 million hotspots, far beyond what the original blockchain was designed to handle. Each node ran a full version of the chain, making Helium one of the most distributed networks in crypto. But that level of distribution came at a cost. Syncing became slow. Updates lagged. The dev team (just 10 to 15 people) was overwhelmed trying to maintain core infrastructure written in Erlang, a fast but obscure language that made community contribution difficult.

The turning point came when the community voted to migrate to Solana through a Helium Improvement Proposal (HIP). The goal was to offload core blockchain functionality so Helium could focus on building wireless infrastructure, not maintaining base-layer code.

Solana offered a natural fit. Its high throughput, low fees, and developer ecosystem made it viable for Helium’s global footprint. It also opened the door to composability with other Solana-based protocols, something that wasn’t possible on the original chain.

Most projects that attempt a migration lose steam. Helium didn’t. The move was messy behind the scenes, but it worked. The hotspots stayed online. The user base kept growing. The token remained liquid. And the network proved that a major pivot doesn’t have to mean collapse.

The State of the Network

Helium’s numbers in 2025 tell a clear story: the network is scaling.

There are now over 95,000 mobile hotspots deployed. Daily users have climbed past 867,000, and the network processes nearly 29 terabytes of data per day. For those running hotspots, the average 30-day reward stands at 16.77 HNT, worth about $67 at current prices.

These numbers reflect actual usage. The daily user count tracks mobile traffic moving across Helium’s decentralized infrastructure, real devices using real bandwidth. The data throughput confirms the network isn’t idling. It’s being used at scale, with a trendline that continues to rise.

The reward rate, while variable, still provides meaningful upside for those contributing coverage. That’s critical. Helium’s entire model depends on participation. And as long as the network delivers value and payouts are competitive, contributors will keep it growing.

Put together, the numbers point to a system with real traction. There’s organic demand, not just speculation. That’s rare in crypto, and it gives HNT something most tokens don’t have: a foundation rooted in real-world utility.

🚨LATEST: Solana-based @helium_mobile gained over 11,000 new phone plan subscribers in the past 7 days. pic.twitter.com/tPLfAvfGru

— SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) May 20, 2025

Tokenomics

Helium runs on a three-token system, each serving a distinct part of the network.

HNT is the primary token. It powers governance, ties together the ecosystem, and gets burned to create Data Credits, a non-transferable token used to pay for data usage. Any time someone uses Helium Mobile or connects an IoT device to the network, they’re burning HNT. This sets up a deflationary dynamic: the more the network is used, the more HNT gets burned.

MOBILE is used to reward contributors to Helium’s cellular network. If you deploy a Helium Mobile hotspot and provide coverage, you earn MOBILE. The token represents mobile infrastructure participation, nothing more, nothing less. Its value comes from demand for decentralized wireless bandwidth.

IOT does the same for Helium’s original network layer: LoRaWAN. These devices typically use low-power sensors for tracking, monitoring, and location services. Contributors who maintain LoRaWAN coverage earn IOT, proportional to their uptime and traffic relayed.

All three tokens operate under a burn-and-mint equilibrium. When users consume network services (via Data Credits), HNT gets burned. In response, the protocol mints new HNT to reward MOBILE and IOT participants. This creates a closed loop where economic value flows from real-world activity (mobile usage, IoT sensors, data demand) into token rewards.

This model ties incentives together. Users gain access to affordable, private connectivity. Network builders earn for maintaining infrastructure. And HNT serves as the bridge between them, absorbing demand and reinforcing value through scarcity.

Partnerships and Expansion

Helium’s growth is starting to look like a serious alternative to legacy telecoms.

In the U.S., Helium Mobile launched a SIM-based offering that lets users earn rewards by opting in to share location data. Instead of selling this data to advertisers, Helium redirects that value back to users through token incentives and perks. It’s a model that challenges the privacy tradeoffs baked into most consumer plans.

On the enterprise side, Helium’s biggest move came through a partnership with Movistar Mexico, a subsidiary of Telefónica. After more than a year of testing, Movistar committed to onboarding 2.3 million users onto the Helium network. It’s one of the largest carrier integrations into a decentralized telecom system to date, and a major validator of Helium’s infrastructure.

Expansion into Europe and Asia has been slower. Unlike the unlicensed spectrum used for LoRaWAN and some open mobile bands, most telecom regions rely on licensed spectrum, meaning governments auction off bandwidth to traditional carriers. That creates legal and regulatory barriers Helium can’t bypass without partnerships or new models.

Still, the trajectory is clear. Between consumer incentives, a working product in the U.S., and enterprise validation from one of the world’s biggest carriers, Helium is no longer just a Web3 curiosity. It’s positioning itself as a legitimate player in the $9T global telecom market.

Price Performance and Market Data

Helium’s market trajectory reflects the broader arc of the crypto industry: early hype, a sharp correction, and a gradual return to fundamentals. As of late May 2025, HNT is trading at $3.99, a figure that sits well above its all-time low of $0.2544 (recorded in June 2020), but still far below the $55.22 peak reached during the November 2021 bull market.

That climb to $55 came during a period of extreme speculation across crypto markets, when the concept of decentralized wireless networks was still largely untested. At that point, Helium had not yet launched its Mobile product, its network was concentrated around LoRaWAN deployments, and the project operated its own Layer 1 blockchain. Much of the valuation was based on promise, not usage.

The bear market that followed, compounded by internal blockchain limitations, negative press around token distribution, and general DePIN sector skepticism, drove HNT into a multi-year correction. Prices bottomed out alongside network stagnation.

The turnaround began with Helium’s migration to Solana in 2023, a move that significantly improved scalability, cut infrastructure costs, and brought the token into a more liquid ecosystem. Since then, listings on Coinbase, Raydium, Orca, and other top exchanges have increased accessibility. Most current volume flows through Solana-based DEXs, particularly Raydium and Orca, where HNT/SOL is the dominant pair. Centralized exchanges like Coinbase and Bitget also see regular activity via HNT/USDT.

What’s notable about the current market environment is the alignment between price movement and network fundamentals. Daily users, mobile data throughput, and hotspot deployments have all trended upward over the past six months. That usage (rather than media narratives or token speculation) appears to be driving renewed interest in HNT.

Like most crypto assets, HNT still reacts to broader market cycles. But compared to speculative projects that pump on announcements and fade on delivery, Helium’s price is increasingly tethered to measurable adoption. Whether that trend holds will depend on continued user growth, global expansion, and how the market values DePIN use cases heading into the next bull cycle.

Helium (HNT) Price Prediction for 2025

Helium’s short-term valuation will likely track tangible expansion rather than narrative hype. The 2025 forecast reflects a network that’s proving itself in real-world conditions, particularly through Helium Mobile, Movistar Mexico, and steady hotspot deployment in North America.

In the base case, modest price growth reflects steady adoption without major disruption. The bull case assumes Helium solves cross-border rollout challenges and secures more telecom alliances. The bear case hinges on the same spectrum hurdles that historically slowed wireless challengers.

Helium (HNT) Price Prediction for 2030

Long-term upside depends on Helium becoming more than a niche DePIN success. By 2030, the real question is whether telecom incumbents adopt Helium infrastructure or whether the project stalls at the edge of scale.

The bull case is transformative. If legacy telcos begin adopting Helium’s model, or if it becomes the back-end for decentralized connectivity, valuation logic changes entirely. The bear case assumes more agile or better-funded competitors enter the space and capture key geographies or sectors.

By then, HNT will no longer be evaluated on potential alone. Execution, reward sustainability, and enterprise relevance will define its price range.

Industry Context: Privacy, Regulation, and DePIN Momentum

Traditional telecoms are under increasing scrutiny for opaque data practices, and users are becoming more aware of how much they give up in exchange for connectivity. That shift has opened the door for alternatives that reward, rather than exploit, participation.

DePIN as a sector has gained traction since 2024, with projects across storage, compute, and connectivity reframing infrastructure as a community-led asset class. Helium remains one of the most established examples, showing what happens when real-world usage meets crypto incentives.

But regulatory clarity hasn’t caught up. Europe’s MiCA framework creates high compliance costs but clear boundaries, while the U.S. continues to rely on fragmented enforcement. That tension will shape how fast DePIN models like Helium can scale across regions.

Unlike traditional telcos, Helium doesn’t monetize user data behind closed doors. Instead, it builds participation into its model, offering token incentives to users who opt in to share location data, and leaving others out entirely. That approach reframes data not as an extractive asset, but as a shared value stream, an increasingly resonant stance as digital privacy becomes a mainstream concern.

“We want to show people the benefit of privacy by rewarding them, not extracting from them.”

-Frank Mong, COO of Helium, on the Hodl Up podcast

>did someone say privacy matters?
>let’s talk DePIN
>invite @fmong from @helium_mobile
>talk about @helium‘s morning routine
>whole lotta 🎈 and a 🦆 came by
>no saratoga spring waters this time
>introducing HodlUp: DePIN.exe
>enjoy ts, builders pic.twitter.com/EMY09SSk6R

— hodl up (@hodluppod) March 27, 2025

There’s still a long road ahead. But if DePIN really is the future of infrastructure, Helium might not just be a use case: it might be the blueprint.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is Helium (HNT)?

Helium is a decentralized wireless network built on blockchain. It supports IoT and mobile devices through user-deployed hotspots that earn tokens for providing coverage and transferring data.

What is DePIN?

DePIN stands for Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks. It refers to real-world systems like wireless networks, power grids, or storage being run through blockchain-based coordination and incentives.

How does Helium work?

Users deploy hardware (hotspots) that connect devices or mobile users. In return, they earn tokens based on how much data they transmit or how much coverage they provide. Rewards are issued in HNT, MOBILE, or IOT depending on the network type.

What is the role of the HNT token?

HNT is Helium’s core token. It’s used to burn for data credits (which power network usage), governs the protocol, and acts as the central reward mechanism across the ecosystem.

What are MOBILE and IOT tokens?

MOBILE rewards users for providing 5G/mobile network coverage. IOT rewards LoRaWAN coverage for low-power devices. Both are utility tokens with roles separate from HNT but ultimately anchored to the broader Helium economy.

Why did Helium migrate to Solana?

Helium moved from its own Layer 1 to Solana to handle network scale, boost developer activity, and resolve technical bottlenecks. The migration was approved through a community vote and completed in 2023.

Is Helium a real alternative to telecom providers?

Yes, in certain regions. In the U.S., Helium Mobile offers SIM-based phone plans. In Mexico, Movistar is shifting 2.3 million users to Helium infrastructure. These early cases show Helium’s potential to disrupt traditional telecom.

Is Helium compliant with regulations?

Helium’s deployment depends on spectrum regulations. Some areas (like the U.S.) offer unlicensed spectrum that Helium can use directly. Others require partnerships or new models to comply with local telecom laws.

Can I earn HNT as an individual?

Yes. You can deploy a hotspot or subscribe to Helium Mobile and opt in to share your location. In both cases, you earn rewards tied to how much value you contribute to the network.