Welcome to Block #7
Alpha Testnet coming soon
We’re only weeks away from launching our Alpha Testnet and couldn’t be more excited to get our network up and running across the US. As we get closer to launch, we’ll invite the community to follow our progress and join the movement to build network coverage by deploying gateways in your cities. Until then, get involved by signing up for our Gateway Waitlist and enjoy this edition of our Block newsletter!
✈️ From LA to Denver
In October, Helium went to SoCal for our 3rd Crossing the Crypto Chasm event featuring Science, Los Angeles Blockchain Lab, Element Group, and Sagewise. Between meeting our LA community, another great panel conversation, and the delicious Korean BBQ, we were ready to pack up our SF office and move to the beach.
After LA, we kicked off our first meetup in Denver with a special presentation from one of our IoT Without Limits contest winners, Paul Trebilcox-Ruiz. Watch the video here.
📹 #BUIDL video just in
For those who missed our #BUIDL: The Future of Blockchain event with Slow Ventures in SF, we got you covered with this video featuring Jill Carlson, Adam Ludwin, Preethi Kasireddy, Amir Haleem, Sam Lessin, David King, and Frank Mong.
📍Next stop: IoT & Blockchain Expo
Going to IoT & Blockchain Expo North America November 28–29th? We’ll be there! Come meet Helium at booth #452 in the Santa Clara Convention Center and see our COO Frank Mong take the stage on “The New Internet” and “The Future of IoT — Predictions for a Connected World”.
The team has achieved exciting milestones over the past few weeks, from completing the rev3 gateway boards for our Alpha Testnet launch to making significant improvements on the wallet. But in this Developer Update, we turn your attention to Proof-of-Coverage and consensus. Our latest blogs below dive deeper into the tech and answer common questions asked by our community. Check them out and head to our Github for more on our engineering progress.
To build a decentralized wireless network we designed a new identity mechanism called Proof-of-Coverage that is useful, energy efficient, and fair. Learn more about Proof-of-Coverage here.
How do gateways join a consensus group? How is score derived? And what ensures the system remains truly decentralized and fair? Learn more about consensus here.
New team hire: Evan Vigil-McClanahan
Helium is growing with the addition of Evan Vigil-McClanahan. Evan hails from YOLO County and joins the engineering team with deep experience in Erlang development, performance monitoring, and tracing. Prior to Helium, Evan worked at Tiger Connect, SpaceTime Insight, and Heroku.
🦃 Happy Holidays from Helium!
With new hires and the whole team in town last week, we managed to get out of the office for a field trip to hone our cooking skills in preparation for Thanksgiving in the US. To all those celebrating this week, wishing you a happy and healthy holiday from the Helium team!
In case you missed it…
- IoT NY #57: Decentralizing IoT and Disrupting the Telcos video
- Helium CEO Amir Haleem on The Dangers of a Centralized Internet video
- The Uplink: Automating Specialty Operations with Twilio and Agulus video
- MIT Technology Review: This company hopes its cryptocurrency can help the internet of things reach its true potential article
- Latest Technical FAQ Roundup blog
Join the conversation
We’re on Telegram! Come join the conversation and ask the team your burning questions. As a reminder, we ask our community to beware of fake Helium accounts and solicitors.
