Helium Mobile, a low-cost cellular network that rewards users with MOBILE tokens for sharing their location data, has modified its rules.
Helium Mobile, a low-cost cellular network that rewards users with MOBILE tokens for sharing their location data, has modified its rules governing crypto rewards payouts in response to a surge in new signups and suspicious account activity.
Under the updated terms of service, effective December 18, new Helium Mobile subscribers must wait eight days before they can claim any MOBILE tokens earned through Discovery Mapping, the company's location-tracking service. This change aims to address growing pains experienced by Helium's partially crowdsourced cellular network, which has seen an influx of new customers and interest in its unique cryptocurrency reward mechanism since its nationwide launch in early December.
Helium Mobile's cell service operates on a combination of T-Mobile towers and Helium's own hotspots, hosted by individuals who receive MOBILE tokens as payment. Phone subscribers who opt into Helium Mobile's location tracking service also earn MOBILE tokens, which are intended to guide the placement of new hotspots. Currently, Helium Mobile subscribers using Discovery Mapping can earn over 2,000 MOBILE tokens per day, enough to cover the $20 monthly subscription fee in just two days.
The skyrocketing price of MOBILE, which has surged over 2800% this month, has attracted thousands of new customers to Helium Mobile and its mapping service. On Sunday, over 6,700 wallets received MOBILE rewards, more than double the number a week earlier, according to data site Helium Geek.
However, this growth has also brought challenges. Coco Tang, director of product for Helium Mobile's parent company Nova Labs, acknowledged in a Discord post that some customers were exploiting the system by farming MOBILE tokens for seven days and then canceling their phone plan, essentially receiving a full refund and potentially hundreds of dollars in MOBILE tokens.
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