Helium Token Skyrockets 100% After Texas Town Turns Wi-Fi Into Cell Coverage

Helium (HNT) surged nearly 100% on Saturday after the city of Celina, Texas, deployed the network’s technology to convert its existing public Wi‑Fi into cellular coverage.

How the Wi‑Fi to cellular conversion works

Celina added Helium coverage to the public library, a senior center and several downtown shops. The city already owned the Wi‑Fi infrastructure, so no new towers were built. Helium’s protocol adds a layer that allows phones to treat those Wi‑Fi hotspots as cellular sites, using credentials stored on the SIM card. The connection is automatic, requiring no app or password.

Impact on the Helium token

The announcement on Friday triggered an overnight rally, adding roughly $37 million to HNT’s market value. Trading volume spiked, with about $44 million exchanged in a single day—more than half of the token’s total market cap at the time.

Broader context

Celina’s population grew 24.6% in the past year, making it the fastest‑growing U.S. city over 20,000 residents. The city’s 100 GB per day of data traffic is modest, but the deployment demonstrates a scalable alternative to building new cell towers.

Despite the recent surge, HNT remains down 85.6% over the past 12 months and trades near $0.42, far below its 2021 peak of $54.88.