If you are part of the Helium revolution, you may have seen a drop in HNT and real dollar amount earnings in recent months. You are not alone. There are multiple factors impacting the price of HNT, and your share of HNT from mining.
Some of it is outside your control. The Crypto Crash of April and May 2022 is impacting all cryptocurrency assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Terra Luna, known as a stable coin, has been anything but stable, and this is causing ripple effects in the market. Even if you are mining the same amount of HNT as three months ago, your dollar value equivalent is a lot less.
But you probably aren't earning as much HNT as you did earlier this year. Some of this is because as more miners come online, there is less total HNT available for everyone. Another reason is HIP 55. And yet another reason is network instability due to the roll over to light hotspots.
If you have been waiting for your miner since last year, you may have had dreams of paying your rent with your HNT earnings, and you may have even planned to deploy multiple hotspots to rake in the cash. That's not reality anymore. What can you do? You have several options.
ADAPT
The excitement of earning HNT for building out the Helium network was valid, and part of Helium's own marketing. There was nothing wrong with having high expectations, and for those who got miners in the fall, you may have already paid them off with earnings. But everyone is now in the same boat now. Earnings will not return to their heyday, and they were never meant to stay ridiculously high. Installing a miner wasn't supposed to be a money printing press allowing us all to quit our day jobs. Adapting means understanding the current crypto and Helium landscape and determining how to make the most of your setup. Whether that's a change in antenna gain, using a band pass filter to reduce noise, or simply leaving your miner as is to see how things go, adapting to current circumstances is one choice.
Our friend Nik Hawks, AKA The Gristle King, put it best in his YouTube Short, Relax and Let it Happen. He was talking about riding out the light hotspot rollover, but the same advice can be heeded for your miner. Just sit back, let it do what it's supposed to do, and see what happens. You are part of the Helium Network and that's really cool.
SELL IT ALL
This is the opposite of HODL. Dump your HNT and put your miner on eBay. It was fun while it lasted. If you never cared much about building the network and were just looking to make a quick buck but haven't yet, the time is probably up for a fast return. Sell your equipment now and reduce the number of competing hotspots. You will be able to recoup some of your investment and this will be advantageous to other miners around you in the same or nearby hexes as they can divy up your rewards going forward, as well as any data credits you might earn down the road.
PIVOT TO 5G
Big things are coming from the 5G arena. 5G earnings over Helium will be a little different from Helium mining. It is not a LoRa (long range) technology, even though 5G devices like FreedomFi can also mine Helium. To make the most of 5G via Helium, you will need to be in an area that has a lot of foot traffic. Strip malls, near concert venues or schools- places where there are a high number of 5G users without the ability for a cellular carrier to build a tower nearby. Investment in the 5G network is longer term and won't pay immediate dividends except for the HNT mining. But don't count on recovering a $2499 FreedomFi setup cost from HNT mining alone. If you are interested in developing the future, we advise moving to 5G opportunities, but temper your ROI expectations.
Is the build-phase of the Helium network finished?
No, the build phase is not done. In fact, globally it is just getting started. But if you are in the United States, many populated areas are more saturated than they need to be and earnings in these areas will continue to stay low or decline further. If you are thinking about buying a new Helium miner, target locations that have empty area between hexes. More rural areas could be the key- your miner will be far more valuable to the network and earn more in future data credits as well. We have high gain antennas that can help you connect the dots.
Whatever choice you make, we wish you the best in your endeavors and if you continue to stay mining- happy mining!
Military and First Responder 
