Helium Tokens Surge Amid Network Expansion, Solana Saga BONK Mania

Tokens for the decentralized mobile network Helium have boomed in the past day, with protocol token MOBILE leading the pack.

MOBILE, a governance token mined by 5G-CBRS and Wi-Fi hotspots, is up over 60% on the day and a massive 821% on the week, currently trading at $0.00632984 per CoinGecko data. Helium's native cryptocurrency HNT is up 2.4%, trading at $7.39, while its IOT token, which underpins Helium's Internet of Things subnetworks, is up 11% over the past 24 hours.

The surge in Helium Network's tokens follows the launch earlier this month of Helium Mobile's $20/month no-contract smartphone plan, offering unlimited data, talk and text, and the network's nationwide U.S. rollout.

Helium Mobile provides cellular phone service across the decentralized Helium network with support from T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network, with the firm claiming that its subscription bundle is almost eight times cheaper than the average U.S. monthly cellphone bill. In a Twitter post at the weekend, Helium CEO Amir Haleem claimed that the network's subscriber count has reached 12,500.

Helium's 5G network is powered by user-operated nodes, which are rewarded with crypto tokens for sharing their service with nearby subscribers. The network's tokens are minted on the Solana blockchain network, following this year’s migration.

Helium Network is also benefiting from a surge of interest in the Solana Saga smartphone, which comes bundled with a free 30-day subscription to Helium Mobile. The Saga smartphone has sold out in the U.S. in recent days, after crypto traders realized that they came bundled with an airdrop of the Solana-based meme coin BONK—which, at current prices, is worth more than the hardware.

Speaking to Decrypt, a Solana representative noted that the blockchain network is monitoring demand for the device, in order to "assess what comes next."

Solana and BONK have not fared as well in the last day, following the crypto market's broader downward trend as Bitcoin slipped under $41,000. Solana is currently trading at around $70, down 1.6% on the day, while BONK is down 2.9%.