Many coiners consider decentralization as key. The decentralization is partly linked to the number of nodes, available through blockchain explorers:
- Bitcoin (BTC): 15252
- Ethereum (ETH): 6407
- Elrond (EGLD): 3200
- Cardano (ADA): 2924
- Solana (SOL): 1469
- Avalanche (AVAX): 1250
- Tezos (XTZ): 388
- Terra (LUNA): 130
- Fantom (FTM): 58
- Binance (BNB): 21
By using the number of nodes to assess the decentralization level, Bitcoin and Ethereum appear as the most decentralized blockchains whereas Fantom and Binance are poorly decentralized - what explains why Fantom recently decided to reduce the node cost in order to urge more people to host nodes.
However, one blockchain is missing in the list above: Helium network, which has a much lower market cap than all the blockchains (and coins) above, currently has 3509 staked validators and 612652 hotspots. Therefore, we can consider Helium as similar to Elrond in number of nodes (validators).
The numerous Helium hotspots increase the decentralization potential since many hotspots will earn and accumulate enough HNT to become validators - what requires 10k HNT. Furthermore, the Helium network map shows it is smartly distributed geographically over Europe & America, which is also key.
On top of that, Helium has a real utility (wireless network) and an increasing number of partners in the IoT asset tracking, where it offers a cost-effective alternative to 5G. Regarding the tokens used on Helium (HNT and DC), they are complementary to each other, since HNT is used to incentivize hosts, whereas DC (Data Credits) is a stablecoin used by devices to send data on network & pay for blockchain transactions. As DC is created by burning HNT, the HNT token value may continue to increase if more & more data is sent on network, requiring more DC to be created and hence more HNT burning.
Please DYOR, and if you want to participate in HNT staking or in Helium hotspots through shared renting, feel free to use the referral links below:
Below additional referral links to earn more cryptos:
