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Following the announcement of a new HIP 70 governance proposal on Tuesday, the Internet of Things (IoT) blockchain network Helium may switch over to the Solana blockchain.

The Helium core developers claimed that in order to bring about "substantial economies of scale" for the network, it was necessary to "increase operational efficiency and scalability."

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In order to provide decentralized wireless 5G network coverage for internet users in their area, members of the Helium network install Helium Hotspots. When network connectivity is confirmed, Helium uses a novel consensus method called proof-of-coverage to award HNT tokens to Helium Hotspot providers.

The proposal comes as Helium's creators have underlined the necessity of resolving a number of technological problems in order to enhance the network's functionality:

Both have been difficult for network users during the past few months, with substantially less Proof-of-Coverage activity occurring as a result of the network's size, the stress on the blockchain and validators, and packet delivery concerns.

According to the Helium GitHub website, the HIP 70 proposal has been made to enhance these data transport and network coverage capabilities.

If approved, the Solana blockchain would also get data credits (DCs) and helium-based HNT, IOT, and MOBILE tokens.

Hotspot providers contribute to the network's HNT, LoRaWAN node operators contribute to the network's IOT, 5G coverage providers contribute to the network's MOBILE, and DCs are used to pay transaction fees.

Since its creation in 2013, the Helium network has operated on its own blockchain. The Hotspot podcast host Arman Dezfuli-Arjomandi stated in several Twitter posts that “Ethereum was too slow” and “other alternatives [at the time] weren’t all that appealing:”

“Helium needed to build its own Blockchain when the protocol first started as there was no blockchain that this could have been built on that existed at the time.”

Despite having almost a million Helium Hotspots installed worldwide and having investors like Google Ventures backing it, the network hasn't been without its share of detractors.

Following the revelation that the network was only making $6,500 per month from data use revenue while having raised over $350 million, businessman Liron Shapira blasted the network for having a "total lack of end-user demand."

A four-hour downtime on the Helium network also hampered HNT token holders' ability to swap their tokens and stopped Helium Hotspot miners from getting paid.

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Community reacts positively

The Helium community as a whole has reacted favorably to HIP 70 and is of the opinion that the integration with Solana will be extremely advantageous to developers.

Should the advice be accepted, Ryan Bethencourt, a partner at Web3 supporter Layer One Ventures, informed his 16,000 Twitter followers that the proposal is "massive" for Helium and Solana.

The combination was described as "just mind blowing" by another Twitter user.

On September 12, HNT token holders will have access to the HIP 70 vote on heliumvote.com. Election day is September 18.

The price of HNT, which is currently $5.23 and has decreased 15.5% over the past 48 hours, does not seem to have been positively affected by the news.

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