Pollen Mobile Hardware Providers at a Crossroads

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Pollen Mobile, a decentralized 5G mobile network, recently sparked outrage as they announced a significant change in the project's direction and associated token. Like its close competitor Helium, individuals can earn a native token, in this case, Pollen Network’s token (PCN), by purchasing and deploying hardware that provides cellular coverage. Token-based incentives served as a mechanism to bootstrap Pollen’s cellular network, enabling the community to create a decentralized alternative to traditional network providers.

On January 23, Pollen OpCo released upgrades to the network's infrastructure and the next phase of the network, Paid Data. This phase introduces USD as the primary means of purchasing data from the network. Hardware operators will be paid USD for data transferred through their devices and receive PCN for Proof-of-Coverage. Additionally,  the Pollen OpCo noted that customers could still pay up to 25% of their data bill in PCN. However, PCN will be fixed at $0.10 moving forward. This decision was claimed to be made due to increasing regulatory pressure around token-only models and the unclear path to profitability.

This announcement may have dimmed speculatory interest in the token and project. Following the announcement, the price of PCN dropped 60% from $0.02 to $0.009. Further, providers might be disincentivized because the token utility has almost vanished.

Pollen Mobile’s Move to Paid Data

Pollen Mobile launched in February 2022 to provide data coverage. Unlike a typical phone company, this network provides features like mining crypto and privacy.

After a period of high rewards, the team started to slow down the reward rate for providers to “keep the network sustainable” in December 2022.