What is Helium Mining: Helium & The Helium Network 101

Helium mining has been at the heart of Emrit’s first phase of growth. Both as a proof of concept for our distributed infrastructure model and as an example of how people-driven approaches can expand and grow the blockchain networks of the future, the relationship between Emrit and Helium could not be more profound.

If you’ve been following our work for a while, you’ll no doubt have encountered mentions of Helium at every turn. But what exactly is Helium? And what constitutes Helium mining? To understand our company and the success driving the blockchain adoption with real world Web3 use cases like Helium, it’s essential to have answers to those questions.

If you’re new to blockchain technology as a whole, be sure to check out our other blogs on the topic. Though we’ll review some essential basics below, you should be familiar with the concept of a decentralized network and immutable ledger. The goal of this blog is to:

• Revisit the concept of cryptocurrency mining and proof of coverage
• Introduce the Helium IoT network
• Explain the role of Emrit and the CoolSpot in the expansion and growth of the Helium Network

Review: Cryptocurrency Mining 

Cryptocurrency miners use their computing power to participate in a blockchain’s consensus mechanism and are rewarded in digital currency.

The most common types of consensus mechanism are proof

of work and proof of stake. Both are versions of the same thing: a decentralized system of confirming and/or witnessing the validity of a transaction and thereby creating a new block in the blockchain. Witnessing or winning a “challenge” earns the node (and its owner) cryptocurrency.

The currency earned by participating in the Helium network is HNT. Before we jump into how you can start earning HNT, let’s get down to the details of what the Helium Network actually is and does.

Unlike many other blockchain networks, the Helium network is not based on proof of work or proof of stake. Instead, the access nodes challenge each other for proof of coverage. That’s because providing coverage is the essential function of the Helium network.

The Helium Network

Helium is “The People’s Network,” a decentralized wireless network. Driven by the Helium blockchain and decentralized infrastructure, it provides low-power network coverage to billions of devices that need a connection to transmit data between one another.

In its current form, the Helium network is an IoT network. IoT stands for Internet of Things and refers to connections between non-human interfaces and devices. A smart home, designed around communication between sensors, is a great example of a simple IoT setup. Helium connects IoT devices with one another in groundbreaking ways.

Devices that tap into the Helium network to transmit data between one another are guaranteed secure information exchange and immutability, thanks to blockchain technology. That makes the Helium network not only a neat alternative to centralized coverage structures but essential infrastructure for real privacy and information security.

The good news is that nothing needs to change in established infrastructure to allow sensors, devices, or other solutions to tap into the Helium “LongFi” network. That Blockchain network is being built in the world around us at this very moment, and it has already become the largest IoT network in the world, used by businesses and governments all over the world!

Why Helium?

Beyond its many functional uses, the Helium network also embodies the very best of what next-generation digital infrastructure can be. Governed by an open alliance and built on open-source technology, it makes use of already existing technology to reduce cost and raise efficiency in-network coverage.

Blockchain technology demands a people-centered approach. With a network like Helium, centralized, profiteering cell coverage may soon be competitively challenged by a people-powered alternative. A global network for IoT devices to use for transferring device data securely. At Emrit, we are helping to drive this change.

Helium relies on distributed infrastructure (Helium hotspots). By connecting a Helium hotspot to your power and home network, you provide coverage for the Helium network to your local area. Companies like Emrit work to get that infrastructure out to people – in a subsidized, profit-sharing way.

Emrit and the CoolSpot

Emrit is a distributed blockchain infrastructure company. We aim to build the physical infrastructure of the next generation of the internet, or Web3, all while creating income opportunities for consumers and businesses through cryptocurrency mining. We focus on infrastructure development by helping a network like Helium achieve wider network coverage with hardware, software and support services.

Emrit has quickly become a leading miner of Helium in the world. That amazing development has been fueled by our CoolSpot devices, which have reached hundreds of Emritans around the world. The CoolSpot plugs into your power (using only the equivalent energy of a 5W lightbulb) and connects to your home WiFi. Emrit CoolSpots feature firmware that allows Emrit to optimize fleet management using diagnostics and telemetry tools.

CoolSpots transmits an IoT wireless signal and passes data on the Helium network creates/witnesses/responds to challenges for proof of coverage by other nodes, or hotspots, in your vicinity. hotspots earn HNT, Helium’s cryptocurrency, in the process.

Emrit subsidizes the cost of leading wireless technology, you provide your physical location, internet access, and a negligible amount of power. Hotspots used for validating wireless coverage, delivered straight to your door. As one of our CoolSpot Helium miners, you’ll be earning passive income straight to a mobile app.

In the end, we all stand to gain from a profit-sharing collaboration. And while Helium mining won’t remain our only significant infrastructure project, the Helium network will continue growing with Emrit – and you alongside it.

Helium Mining: The Potential of Decentralized Coverage

Helium mining is at the core of Emrit’s first phase of growth. That’s partly because our company\’s goals coincide urgently with the Web3 infrastructure needs of a system like Helium. By getting subsidized hardware out to individuals all over the world, we are physically laying the groundwork for the expansion of the Helium network.

We are proud to contribute to the growth of the Helium network because it captures the very best of what blockchain technology can do: provide people-driven alternatives to profit-based, centralized networks.

And the Helium network continues to grow and evolve. The IoT compatibility points to further potential for decentralized wireless coverage. Home networks could eventually be used to give internet coverage to human users as well. All that and more is what we could be working towards in the future. In this blog, we:

• Reviewed the basic technological principles underlying cryptocurrency mining
• Introduced the Helium IoT Network
• Explained the role of Emrit and the CoolSpot in the successful growth of Helium

To get started on your own helium mining journey (and start earning HNT passively), explore our website and join the ranks of our global Emritans today! Together, we can capitalize on the opportunities of Blockchain and Web3.