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Certik analysts suspect Helium founders of deceiving project participants

Cybersecurity company Certik suspects the founders of Helium of making illegal profits from the funds of users who invested in the project at an early stage.

According to the founders of Helium, in order to participate in the project, users had to spend about $500 on devices that are Wi-Fi routers that will mine HNT in a passive income scheme. Investors were promised that as soon as the project grows, the profit will be divided among all participants. In a message to potential audiences, the Helium team stated:

“With the support of investors Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global, Helium is building a global ‘people’s network’ – wireless internet connectivity for things like parking meters and dog collars. All you need to do is purchase a custom Wi-Fi router for $500, connect a hotspot to Helium, and earn regular passive income in HNT in return. Helium investors will be able to recoup their costs in just a few weeks.”

Helium COO and Chief Advertising Officer Frank Mong wrote on the company blog that one of the core principles of Helium’s “people’s network” is its honesty and that “all users have an equal opportunity to mine crypto assets.”

After pre-payment for the Wi-Fi router, the delivery time for equipment to connect to Helium could exceed six months. During this time, project participants received a minimum bonus of 1 HNT per quarter. However, according to analysts at Certik, almost half of the 3.5 million HNT mined in the first six months after the launch of the network in 2019 “settled” in 30 wallets. These addresses are associated with Helium employees, their friends or relatives, and early investors.

A review of hundreds of leaked internal documents, transaction data, and interviews with five former Helium employees led Certik to speculate that they accumulated most of the project’s tokens in its earliest and most profitable days, leaving no more than 30% to the rest of the community. According to Helium blockchain data, in August 2019 alone, each registered access point earned an average of 33,000 HNT. Today, each access point earns no more than 2 HNT per month.

In March, the company announced that it had raised $200 million in investor funding. Helium founder and CEO Amir Haleem said the funds will be used to expand the team and create new products. In addition, the company will change its name to Nova Labs. This is to ensure that customers distinguish between Nova Labs, the Helium blockchain, and the HNT token.

Source: Bits

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