Helium on last leg in Lebanon despite high adoption as profit, utility remain elusive

Lebanese are starting to disconnect and give up on Helium boxes as the cost of keeping them online has become increasingly unsustainable and unprofitable, Wired reported.

Lebanon has become a hotbed of crypto adoption and use as the country contends with a collapsed economy and banking system. Stablecoins are more common than fiat as trust in the traditional financial and political systems is at an all-time low.

However, despite the populace’s high rate of crypto adoption and use, the Helium network seems to be on its last legs in the country as its promises of profit and utility remain elusive.

Helium in Lebanon

The country currently boasts the highest number of Helium hotspots worldwide, with over 6,500 boxes online. The next highest is the UAE with less than half that number.

Lebanese adopted Helium in droves during the 2021 bull run to contend with a crashing economy and a banking system that had pretty much collapsed. At the time, a single HNT token — the crypto paid out to miners for participating in the network — was worth around $50 and people could expect to make around $50 per day from mining HNT.

In an economy where the average pay for police and government officials had fallen to $100 from $800, Helium’s promise of a steady passive income stream that was magnitudes higher than the average monthly pay was an enticing opportunity for Lebanese.

However, as crypto winter set in and bears took control of markets the price of the token fell dramatically from its all-time highs in 2021. HNT has lost over 90% of its value since and is trading at $2.28 as of press time on March 13.

What was once a promise of a $50 per day payout during the 2021 bull run, became cents over the ensuing months of 2022, with no recovery in sight.

The network has recently come under fire for its tokenomics and critics claim that the network unfairly benefited insiders — who got 25% of the total token supply. Meanwhile, Lebanese told Wired that Helium seems like a “scam” and its profits only ever manifeste

Go to Source to See Full Article
Author: Assad Jafri

Did you like this?
Tip BTC Newswire with Cryptocurrency