Helium to Fully Migrate to Solana Blockchain by March 27

This upgrade will encompass all wallets, Hotspots and Helium Network state, and will take place over a 24-hour transition period commencing at approximately 15:00 UTC.

AccessTimeIconFeb 20, 2023 at 7:19 a.m. UTC
Updated Feb 21, 2023 at 2:57 p.m. UTC
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Decentralized wireless communication network Helium will entirely shift to the Solana blockchain by March 27, developers said on Friday.

  • The migration will see HNT, MOBILE and IOT issued on the Solana network, which will continue to be the tokens in the Helium ecosystem.
  • Once the migration is complete, a new version of the Helium Wallet App will be made available. Additionally, the Helium layer 1 blockchain history will remain public. Users will be able to access the new application by updating their current wallet app. HNT holders can also use other wallets within the Solana ecosystem, such as Phantom or Solflare.
  • The final stage of the Upgrade will take place on the proposed date of March 27, beginning around 15:00 UTC. During this 24-hour transition period, all users will be migrated to the Solana blockchain.
  • On this day, Core Developers will initiate a chain halt via a chain variable. Validators will stop producing blocks, and chain followers like routers, blockchain nodes, and will no longer sync blocks and transactions after the halting block. The network and account state will be effectively frozen at this time.
  • After Core Developers validate that block production has halted, a final snapshot of the Helium blockchain will be taken. Subsequently, the chain state will be migrated to the Solana blockchain, including all accounts/tokens; Hotspots will be minted as non-fungible tokens.
  • The upgrade may be delayed if any critical bugs are found leading to the migration event.
  • The move follows a September community vote that saw some 81% of Helium community members voting in favor of migration, as CoinDesk reported.
  • Helium's HNT tokens were up 5% in the past 24 hours as traders reacted favorably to the migration proposal.


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Shaurya Malwa

Shaurya is the Deputy Managing Editor for the Data & Tokens team, focusing on decentralized finance, markets, on-chain data, and governance across all major and minor blockchains.


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