This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe . DAWN’s goal is lofty. All the best ones are. Aiming to enable regular consumers to serve each other broadband — and be rewarded for it with crypto — is similar to what Helium has done for mobile coverage over the past few years. DAWN is positioning itself as a decentralized protocol for gigabit-level internet access, as in, download speeds of over 1 gigabyte per second (1,000 megabytes per second). Helium hotspots, on the other hand, generally offer a 5G-grade service. There are technically no minimum and maximum levels for how fast 5G internet can be. Helium users have reported download speeds ranging from under 100 megabytes per second to actual gigabit ranges. But it depends on the area, with factors including user demand, density and quality of the hotspots available. Still, Helium plays a role in DAWN’s future, whether it likes it or not. Helium is the most obvious benchmark for DePIN adoption right now, especially for projects vying to disrupt services like telecoms and the internet. Helium has been heating up all year And considering DAWN is utilizing Solana for its tokenomics — as does Helium since it switched from its own network in April 2023 — the two are destined to be compared against each other ad infinitum. It could be that DAWN may only really be considered a success if it can eclipse Helium in certain metrics. While the subscription rates of Helium’s mobile service have slowed somewhat (105 per day on average this quarter compared to 225 in Q3), users are spending more than ever to use the network. At least since Helium swapped over to Solana as usage data before the jump is apparently no longer publicly available. Helium users spent almost $63,000 and $56,000 on data in the first two weeks of December, as shown by the light green columns on the above chart. The price of HNT is otherwise plotted by the purple line. In a way, DAWN is a bet on that number increasing dramatically from here. And what’s good for Helium could be good for DAWN — as long as the latter successfully channels that energy toward the home, rather than the hotspot. Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter . Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter . Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more. The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.
