The
surging
price
of
MOBILE
token
is
driving
new
signups
–
and
plenty
of
suspicious
accounts
–
to
Helium
Mobile,
which
on
Monday
tweaked
the
rules
governing
its
cell
plan’s
crypto
rewards
payouts.
New
subscribers
to
Helium
Mobile
must
wait
eight
days
before
they
can
claim
any
MOBILE
tokens
they’re
set
to
receive
in
exchange
for
having
shared
their
location
through
Discovery
Mapping,
according
to
the
company’s
terms
of
service,
updated
Dec.
18.
The
shift
is
meant
to
combat
growing
pains
at
Helium’s
partially
crowdsourced
cellular
network.
Since
launching
nationwide
at
the
beginning
of
December,
the
low-cost
phone
plan
has
seen
an
explosion
of
new
customers
as
well
as
interest
in
its
unique
mechanism
for
paying
its
users
in
cryptocurrency.
Helium
Mobile’s
cell
service
runs
on
a
mix
of
T-Mobile
towers
and
Helium’s
own
hotspots,
which
are
hosted
by
individuals.
Those
hotspot
operators
receive
MOBILE
tokens
as
payment,
as
do
phone
subscribers
who
opt
into
Helium
Mobile’s
location
tracking
service,
theoretically
meant
to
help
guide
where
new
hotspots
should
go.
At
current
levels,
subscribers
to
Helium
Mobile
who
use
Discovery
Mapping
are
earning
over
2,000
MOBILE
tokens
per
day,
CoinDesk
found.
That
is
enough
to
cover
the
cost
of
Helium
Mobile’s
$20
monthly
subscription
in
just
two
days.
The
booming
price
of
MOBILE
–
it’s
up
over
2,000%
this
month
–
has
helped
attract
thousands
of
new
customers
to
Helium
Mobile
as
well
as
its
mapping
service.
On
Sunday,
over
6,700
wallets
received
MOBILE
rewards,
per
data
site
Helium
Geek,
more
than
double
the
number
a
week
earlier.
“Helium
Mobile
has
seen
so
many
sign
ups,
with
some
a
bit
more
suspicious
than
others,”
said
Coco
Tang,
director
of
product
for
Helium
Mobile’s
parent
company
Nova
Labs,
in
a
Discord
post
Monday
afternoon.
Apparently,
some
customers
were
farming
MOBILE
tokens
for
seven
days
and
then
canceling
the
phone
plan,
walking
away
with
a
full
refund
and
potentially
hundreds
of
dollars
in
MOBILE
tokens.
The
changes
will
stop
their
ability
to
game
the
program.
