Notice on Recent FTX and Alameda Events
Note: This post may be updated as more information comes in from the Helium Ecosystem. Last Updated 2022–11–15
Recent events affecting the entire crypto market have caught most people by surprise, including those of us who have been building and participating in the space for several years. While there’s no shortage of uncertainty and concern on social media surrounding the crypto financial markets, the Helium community can feel confident that the Helium Foundation is strongly positioned to weather ongoing volatility. Helium has been cited in the media and among policymakers as one of the most practical uses of cryptocurrency. As the ripple effects of this unfortunate incident wane over time and trust in crypto-powered infrastructure is restored, I’m confident that Helium will remain one of the most pragmatic and valuable uses of blockchain technology.
With respect to the Foundation’s finances:
- The Helium Foundation kept no assets with FTX or FTX.us.
- We hold no crypto-assets other than those related to Helium (e.g., HNT, HST, MOBILE) or USDC stable coins.
- We have no outstanding loans, nor do we take leveraged positions against these assets.
- We have several years of runway with existing cash and tokens. There is additional committed capital slated to come through donations and outside grants.
A Reminder on Self Custody
While the news continues to shake out with respect to the liquidity profile of many platforms that serve the Helium community, we believe it’s wise to exercise prudence. We encourage the Helium Community to consider self-custody through the mobile apps that are deployed on the iOS and Google Play App Stores. The Helium community has access to the Helium Wallet app, which you can find for download on iOS and Android. Never share your seed phrase with anyone you don’t trust to control your tokens, and keep those twelve words secure in an offline location. Do not ever store the seed phrase in a cloud environment (i.e., screenshots on your phone, Google Drive, etc.), as this increases your vulnerability.
Here are a few resources on seed phrase management:
- https://blog.lopp.net/how-to-back-up-a-seed-phrase/ (most conservative)
- https://blog.trezor.io/https-blog-trezor-io-keep-your-seed-phrase-away-from-lions-edcc105457a0
- https://www.ledger.com/blog/how-to-protect-your-seed-phrase
If you have questions about how to use the Helium Wallet, please reach out and ask questions in the Community Discord.
Renewed Commitment
The Helium Foundation continues to focus on building the most available, scalable, and affordable wireless network in the world. We remain committed to building the parts of HIP 51 and HIP 70, as approved by the Helium Community. This includes building out our oracle infrastructure and our move to Solana. On the latter, we’ve seen the Solana blockchain handle the increased load through market volatility and the community come together to rebuild crucial infrastructure in very little time.
We encourage all ecosystem partners, manufacturers, and hotspot deployers to remain focused on building the largest decentralized wireless network in the world.
The Helium Foundation remains stable and committed to our mission of ubiquitous wireless for all and is actively hiring. We are keeping an eye on the ongoing developments and will continue to keep the community notified.
Thank you!
The Helium Foundation
