Helium sets a record: 2.1 million phones connected in a single day, decentralized network momentum is strong

Helium’s mobile network recently achieved a milestone: daily users surpassed 2.1 million, marking large-scale market validation for its community-driven decentralized wireless network model.

This figure is no accident—it’s built on solid partnerships with telecom giants like AT&T and is powered by the value circulation of its native token, HNT, within the ecosystem.

01 Record Breakthrough: A Key Step from Concept to Mass Adoption

With 2.1 million phones connected in a single day, it’s clear that the Helium network has moved beyond being a niche experimental project. It demonstrates the feasibility and appeal of the decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) model in the real world.

The explosive growth of its user base follows a clear trajectory. In May 2025, Helium Mobile’s registered users had just surpassed 250,000.

Since then, network expansion accelerated, with daily active users surging from 263,000 in January 2025 to between 650,000 and 800,000. According to the foundation’s CEO in early November, daily active users neared 2 million and continue to grow.

The core driver of this growth is its unique “everyone for me, I for everyone” coverage model. Users can access services by deploying or connecting to a network of over 93,500 community hotspots worldwide, while contributors are rewarded with HNT tokens for providing network coverage.

This model effectively addresses the capital-intensive and uneven coverage issues of traditional telecom industries.

02 Growth Engine: Synergy of Giant Partnerships and Network Effects

Behind the milestone user data is Helium’s strategic commercial and ecosystem layout. Partnerships with traditional telecom giants have been a key catalyst for growth.

In April 2025, Helium announced a partnership with US telecom giant AT&T. AT&T integrated its over 117 million wireless users into Helium’s distributed WiFi hotspot network to enhance nationwide coverage and service quality. Users can seamlessly and automatically connect via AT&T’s Passpoint WiFi service.

This isn’t an isolated case. As early as February 2025, Helium partnered with Mexican telecom company Telefónica (Movistar) to provide DePIN mobile connectivity for millions of users.

These collaborations bring dual value: for partner operators, it’s a low-cost, high-efficiency solution for network expansion and traffic offloading; for Helium, it directly brings in massive users and accelerates the formation of network effects.

It’s reported that in Q2 2025 alone, such partnerships brought Helium a 70% increase in network traffic, with its user base nearly doubling in three months.

03 Market Pulse: HNT Price, Technology, and Ecosystem Status

As network usage surges, the HNT token—serving as the network’s “fuel” and incentive—has drawn market attention.

As of December 8, 2025, HNT’s latest price on Gate is $2.2120, fluctuating between $2.0470 and $2.3180 that day.

From a technical analysis perspective, candlestick charts across multiple timeframes show a complex market game. For example, on the daily (1D) chart, there are bullish “Morning Doji Star” and “Three Inside Up” patterns, but the weekly (1W) chart shows a “Falling Three Methods” bearish pattern, indicating clear divergence between bulls and bears.

On the fundamentals side, HNT’s current circulating supply is about 186 million, with a max supply cap of 223 million. Its market capitalization is about $409 million, ranking high among cryptocurrencies.

Its deflationary mechanism is noteworthy: Data Credits (DC) on the network must be obtained by burning HNT, directly converting network usage demand into token consumption.

04 Future Vision: Defining the Next Decade of the Connectivity Economy

The record user count is just the beginning. Helium’s vision is to redefine the global connectivity economy. As Foundation CEO Scott Sigel says, the goal is to build a “more adaptive, community-driven network,” enabling everyone to participate and own a share.

Future expansion will focus on three core areas: improving indoor coverage, upgrading existing Wi-Fi infrastructure to be Helium-compatible, and deepening partnerships with international operators.

Technological integration will have far-reaching impacts. Blockchain technology may enable “dynamic data pricing,” adjusting costs in real time based on network demand and congestion. More excitingly, physical network assets like Helium hotspots that generate cash flow may be tokenized and incorporated into the DeFi ecosystem as collateral for lending or liquidity.

In the broader IoT sector, Helium’s LoRaWAN network is seeing rapidly growing demand in smart city, environmental monitoring, and asset tracking scenarios. The dense coverage provided for mobile users will naturally support these emerging smart city applications.

Future Outlook

As of December 8, HNT trades near $2.21 on Gate, with market fluctuations running out of sync with the rapid expansion of network infrastructure.

When AT&T users automatically connect to the network via Helium hotspots at airports or malls, they may not realize they’re participating in a decentralized telecom revolution.

The next step for the Helium network is to extend its decentralized landscape—woven from more than 380,000 hotspots—from North America and Mexico to South America, Southeast Asia, and Europe, ultimately forming a new paradigm of hybrid telecom infrastructure that is community-owned and serves the globe.